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BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 




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Descriptions of many of the most Stubbornly Contested 

Battles in the War of the Great Rebellion, together 

with Incidents and Reminiscences of the Camp, 

the March, and the Skirmish Line. 



EMBRACING 



A RECORD OF THE PRIVATIONS, IIEROIC DEEDS, 

AND GLORIOUS TRIUMPHS OF THE 

SOLDIERS OF THE REPUBLIC. 



CAPTAIN WILLARD GLAZIER, 

*"*■" "S"»»» o» r«« B*M*» "Captuhk, Pu.o.-P^ and EKArs .. .. UlBOE8 „ 

TURK WlM," "PlCULHWT,*. o, AMERICAN CiTIM, " ETC., 1TC. 



2>Uuefrafed. 



HARTFORD, CONN.: 

GILMAN & COMPANY. 

350 and 352 Asylum Street. 
1876. 



.1 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 

WILLARD GLAZIER, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C. 



fjX State I a 

J«U'07 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 



CHAPTER I. 

ZF'OZF*.'!? SUMTER, 

First Causes. — United States Property Seized. — Uprising of the North. 
— The Little Band at the Nation's Outpost. — From Moultrie to 
Sumter.— The Landing at Night. — Moultrie in Flames. — Star of 
the West.— No Help Yet.— Alone to Defend the Old Flag.— Starva- 
tion Ahead. — Communications Cut Off. — No Surrender. — The Bom- 
bardment. — Terrific Cannonading. — The Barracks on Fire. — Not a 
Biscuit Left. — Out of Ammunition. — Wigfall and his White Flag. — 
Sumter Surrenders on its Own Terms. — The Defeat a Glorious 
Victory. 

I^OR years the irrepressible conflict between slavery 
. and freedom had been proclaimed by the wise and 
disbelieved by the unthinking. For years the storm 
cloud, which in 1861 broke over the nation's head, 
had been slowly gathering with ever accumulating 
wrath. Some near-sighted but well-intentioned peo- 
ple supposed that the lightning could be extracted 
from the threatening cloud by sending. up the * Com- 
promise ' kite, with its hempen string of i Masoh and 
Dixon's Line,' but the guns of Sumter undeceived 
them. Those guns awoke the nation from its fancied 
repose and echoed, not only over Charleston Harbor, 
but along the Atlantic coast and through the entire 
North. 

With a grand and unanimous uprising not paral- 
leled in history, the men of the free North flocked 

(21) 



22 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

around the nation's standard and offered their lives 
and fortunes in its defence. 

The people, before dormant, awoke suddenly to hud 
that they had been sleeping on the edge of a crater 
whose boiling lava of injustice and slavery threatened 

to engulf them. 

At the nation's outpost, in Charleston Harbor, alone 
with his little band, Major Robert Anderson awaited, 
behind the embrasures of Fort Sumter, the first attack 
of the insurgents. 

« The property of the General Government south 
of the Potomac, with the exception of Fortress Mon- 
roe Fort Sumter, Fort Pickens, and the Tortugas, had 
been successively seized by the authorities of the 
states within which they were situated." 

" The three forts that then defended Charleston Har- 
bor were Fort Moultrie, of Revolutionary fame, on 
Sullivan's Island ; Castle Pinckney, near the city; and 
Fort Sumter, a new structure on an island in the 
channel, commanding all the approaches to the city. 
It had been erected by the Federal Government at 
considerable cost, and was not yet so far complete as 
to receive a garrison. The place was calculated for 
one hundred and forty-six guns and a war garrison 
of six hundred and fifty men. The only force that 
the Federal Government had for these three forts was 
a single company of artillery in Fort Moultrie, under 
command of Major Anderson." In December, 1860, 
his garrison, occupying Fort Moultrie, found it dif- 
cult to strengthen, and as the authorities at Charles- 
ton grew hourly more threatening, Major Anderson, on 
his own responsibility, abandoned the place for Fort 



BATTLES FUR THE UNION. 



23 



Sumter, where at ten o'clock on the night of the 
twenty-sixth his force disembarked from row boats. 

" A few men were left at Moultrie under Captain 
Foster to cut down the flag-staff, spike the guns, burn 
the carriages and dismantle the place." 

As the flames went up from Moultrie, Charleston 
saw what had happened and great excitement spread 
to that city and throughout the country. The action 
of Major Anderson was lauded at the North and 
denounced at the South. • 

But his new position at Fort Sumter was of doubtful 
advantage. He could not be surprised here as at 
Moultrie, but his communications were cut off and there 
was a prospect ahead of being starved out, unless help 
arrived. Help was sent by our Government, but the 
vigilant Charleston authorities, ever on the alert* pre- 
vented the landing of supplies and ^enforcements. 

Fort Moultrie was repaired and garrisoned by the 
insurgents, and on Sullivan and Morris Islands new 
batteries were built. 

Troops were tendered to the %>vernor of South 
Carolina by three of the slave-holding states, and 
the palmetto flag waved over thotpost-office and Cus- 
tom House at Charleston. The streets of that city 
were patrolled by the military; the telegraph was 
under censorship and the efforts of the authorities 
were directed toward getting possession of Sumter. 

Major Anderson and his hero band worked steadily 
on, strengthening the Fort as best they could. Around 
them, battery after battery arose, each one cutting off 
more surely their hope of succor. 

Their stock of food rapidly lessened, despite its 
most economic distribution. 



24 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

On January fifth, 1861, the steamship "Star of the 
West" left New York with supplies and two hundred 
men for Fort Sumter, and arrived off Charleston bar 
at one o'clock on the morning of the ninth. The 
lights of the steamship had been extinguished to 
insure greater safety, but as the " Star of the West" 
passed over the harbor bar, a steamboat lying in wait, 
recognized her and signalled ashore. At a distance 
of half a mile from Morris Island, she was fired upon 
by a shore battery. Raising a large National flag at 
her mast-head she swept on, the Rebel shot over-reach- 
ing her, until at last, having got her range, two cannon 
balls took effect — forward and amidships. As she 
proceeded on her way, two steamers, having in tow an 
armed schooner, approached from Fort Moultrie, evi- 
dently intending to cut her off. The choice was one 
of capture or destruction, and the supply ship therefore 
put about and returned to New York. 

Major Anderson and his artillery company had 
watched the approach of the "Star of the West," 
withholding meantime his fire upon the land batteries 
because he could not believe the act authorized by the 
state, and not knowing that the ship was coming to 
their relief. " He immediately dispatched a message 
to Governor Pickens denouncing the act as one of war 
and threatening that unless it was disavowed he would 
not permit any vessel to pass within range of his 
guns." Major Anderson afterwards referred the mat- 
ter to his Government and requested that Lieutenant 
Talbot, bearer of despatches, might have facilities 
extended to him for his departure. 

On April twelfth, 1861, the Rebels demanded the 



Gr 



YOUNG MS 

Christian a:::ciatio* 

TO 
THE MEMORY OP 

My $i£tef $lvii% 

TnE CONSTANT COMPANION OF MY BOYHOOD, 

WHOSE LAMP OF LIFE WENT OUT 
ON THE DAT, AND AT THE HOUR OF MY CAPTURE BT THE ENEMY 

AT NEW BALTIMORE, VIRGINIA, 
In the Autumn of 1863, 

AND WHOSB LAST WORDS WERE OF ME AND THE ARMY, 

SHutf WoUtmt 

IS AFFECTIONATELY AND TENDERLY INSCRIBED 
BY HER BROTHER, 

The Author. 

iO-J 



9l c Qih6 



IF there is anything of interest or importance in the history of 
war, it must naturally be found in the great battles which 
decide the issues of the controversy. The soldier turns to battle 
scenes for a record of his services and sacrifices. He cares but 
little for details of the camp or march, while he searches with 
avidity for the chapter which rehearses the story of his struggles, 
victories, yea, and even his defeats on the field of strife. The 
citizen and student of history look to grand combats, for the 
salient points in their chronology of events. I have endeavored 
in " Battles for the Union," to present in the most concise 
and simple form the great contests in the war for the preserva- 
tion of the Republic of the United States. Should my late 
comrades in arms consider my pictures faithful, I shall feel more 
than compensated for the effort I have made to commemorate 
their glorious deeds. 

WILLAED GLAZIEE. 

IlAUTFOitD, Conn., August 22J, 1874. 



doi\tei\t^.' 



CHAPTER I. 

FORT SUMTER. 

First Causes.— United States Property Seized. — Uprising of the North. 
—The Little Band at the Nation's Outpost. — From Moultrie to 
Sumter. — The Landing at Night. — Moultrie in Flames. — Star of 
the West.— No Help Yet.— Alone to Defend the Old Flag.— Starva- 
tion Ahead.— Communications Cut Off.- No Surrender —The Bom- 
hardment.— Terrific Cannonading.— The Barracks on Fire.— Not a 
Biscuit Left.— Out of Ammunition.— Wigfall and his White Flag — 
Sumter Surrenders on its Own Terms.— The Defeat a Glorious 
Victory 21 

CHAPTER II. 

BIG BETHEL. 

General Butler at Fortress Monroe. — Decides to Attack the Rebels at 
Big Bethel.— Plan of Major Winthrop.— Crossing the Hampton 
River at Midnight. — Colonel Duryea joined by General Pierce. — 
Fatal Mistake of Colonel Bcndix —The Confederates Retreat from 
Little Bethel.— Battle of Big Bethel, and fall of Major Winthrop.— 
Gallantry and Death of Lieutenant Grebhle.— Official Report of the 
Battle 30 

CHAPTER III. 

BULL RUN. 

Date of the Battle —Military Talent Displayed on Both Sides.— Gen- 
eral Beauregard [ n Command of the Confederate Forces — Expecta 
tions of the North and South Concerning the Result of the Battle. — 
The Division Generals Engaged.— Slow Progress of McDowell's 
Army.— Heavy Skirmish at Blackburn's Ford.— Sluggishness of 
ArmV Movements — Patterson's Failure to Engage Johnston — Hos- 
tilities Commenced.— Attack of Confederate Batteries on Burnside's 
Brigade.— Struggle for the Hill beyond Warrenton Turnpike.— 
Colonel Hunter' Severely Wounded.— Success of the Union Arms . 
up to Three o'clock P. M.— Confederate Reinforcements Turn the 
Scale. — Panic of our Forces. They Break and Fly in Confusion. — 
The Union Army a Mass of Fugitives.— Disastrous end of the Bat- 
tle. — Patterson Blamed 37 

(ix) 



x COXTEXTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

WILSONS CREEK. 

General Fremont in Command of tlie Western Department. — ■Rendez- 
vous at St Louis. — Lyon in a Critical Situation. — The March at 
Night. — Out of the Streets of Springfield. — The Midnight Halt. — 
Camp Fires of the Enemy. — The Rebels at Breakfa>t. — Sigel adds 
an Unexpected Dish to their Morning Repast. — Panic and Flight. — 
Battle and Victory, tbl lowed by Confusion. — The Mistaken Troops. — 
"Our Friends are Firing Upon us." — Sigcl's Disaster. — General 
Lvon at the Front. — They cannot Break His Lines. — Heroism and 
Bravery Conquer Numbers. — Lyon's Last Charge. — Victory and 
Death —The Nation's Beloved Hero. — Rebel Army Routed and in 
Full KctrcaL — Withdrawal to Springfield 50 

CHAPTER A' . 

BALLS BLUFF. 

Situation of Ball's Bluff. — The Hostile Armies on Opposite Banks of 
the River. — Reconnoitre at Drainesville. — Feint of Gorman's Brig- 
ade at Edward's Ferry. — Attack of the Enemy from the Woods. — 
L'nion Troops Exposed to a Murderous Fire. — Death of Baker. — 
Ineffectual Means of Transportation. — Attempts to Regain the 
Maryland Shore. — Troops Shot or Drowned in Crossing. — Defeat 
of the Union Arms. — Causes of the Disaster 62 

CHAPTER VI 

MILL SPRING. 

Geographical Location of Mill Spring. — Encampment of ZollicofTer. — 
Occupancy of I/ogan's Cross Roads by Union Troops. — The Enemy 
Hedged in. — Starvation or Battle. — Zollieotfer Leads the Kebd Ad- 
vance — Colonel Fry Discovers a General's Uniform under a Rubber 
Overcoat. — The Fatal Shot. — Zollieotfer Falls. — Consternation and 
Rout of the Enemy. — A Deserted Camp. — Victory for the "Bovs 
in Blue." 08 

CHAPTER VII. 

PEA RIDGE. 

The Boston Mountains Camp. — Red Skin Re enforcements. — Sigel's 
Ten-mile Fight. — The Long Battle- Line. — " War's Thunders and 
Flowers of "Red Shot."— Sigel Frustrates McCulloeh. — Struggle 
Between Osterhaus and McCulloeh. — Bold Charge of Indiana 
Troops. — Re-enforcements. — Night brings a Suspension of Hostili- 
ties — Battle at Sunrise. — Terrible Array of Union Batteries. — Two 
Hours of Iron Hail. — The Enemy Completely Routed. — Precipitous 
Retreat to the Boston Mountains. — Death of McCulloeh. — Fearful 
Barbarities. — Burial of the Dead. — Elk Horn 72 



COX TENTS. x { 

CHAPTER VIII. 

MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 

The Projection of the Monitor. — Ericsson's Visit to Washington. — The 
Merrimac Launched. — Arrival off Newport News. — Attack on the 
Cumlierland — Heroism of the Crew. — No Surrender. — Sublime 
Braverv. — Sinking of the ill-fated Frigate. — The Burning of tie 
Congress.— Despair of the Fleet.— The Speck of Light on the 
Waves. — Arrival of the Moni'or. — The Merrimac Again Appears. — 
The Strange Looking Antagonist. — The Fight Opens.— Fierce Con- 
flict. — The Baptism of Fire— Four Hours of Battle. — The Merri- 
mac Signals for Help. — The Monitor Victorious. — Our Fleet Saved — 
Cheers of the Multitude 80 

CHAPTER IX. 

NEWBERN. 

The City and its Connections.— Rebel Fortifications — Assemblage of 
Gunboats at Hatteras. — The Advance Down Pamlico Sound. — 
Slocum's Creek Landing. — The Lonq; March. The Forest Camp 
Fj res . — Attack on the Outer Fortifications. — Impetuous Bravery 
of Union Troops.— Heroic Charge Through an Embrasure.— The 
Old Flag Floats Over the Captured Fort. — Entrance into New- 
hern. Ten o'clock and All is Well. Battle of the Fleet.— Brilliant 
Advance of the Gunboats.— All Difficulties Conquered —Victory 
and its Spoils.— The Sabbath Bells 94 

CHAPTER X. 

WINCHESTER. 

Topographv of the Battle-Ground— General Banks' Occupation of 
Winchester. — Stonewall Jackson's Attack. — Disposition of Forces. — 
The Battle. — Unwavering Firmness of Union Troops. — Heroic 
Defence of the National Colors by the Fifth Obio. — " 'Tis sweet for 
One's Country to Die." — The Enemy put to Bout. — Stonewall 
Jackson in Retreat —A Night of Sleep After a Day of Battle. — 
Kemstown. — Sheridan's Ride 106 

CHAPTER XI. 

FALMOUTH HEIGHTS. 

General McDowell in Command of the Army of Virginia. — Advance 
to Bristoe and Falmouth. — Harris Light Leading the Advance. — 
Sudden Fire on the Van-guard — Furious Charge upon the Rebel 
Cavalry. — Death of Lieutenant Decker — His Comrades Avenge 
His Death.— The Enemy Scattered Like Chaff Before the Whirl- 
wind.— Outposts, Stores and Provisions Captured.— A Loyal 
Southern Citizen Greets the Old Flag.— Plan for a Night Attack 
on Falmouth.— Brilliant Capture of the Place by Kilpatrick. . 119 



X JJ COXTfiXTS. 

CHAPTER XII 

PITTSBUKG LANDING. 

The Log Cabin Church. — Bncll's March from Nashville. — The Union 
Camp Surprised. — The Rude Awakening. — Sleep Exchanged for 
Death. — Rally of the Boys in Blue. — Slaughter from the Woods. — 
Stand on the Corinth Road.— The Brave Resistance — The Wave 
of Rebellion Hurled Back. — Six Hours of Magnificent Fighting. — 
A Glorious Record. — Wallace Falls. — The Impregnable Line. — 
Tyler and Lexington Gunboats. — Death of Confederate Johnston. — 
Buell Reaches the Landing. — Last Day's Fight — Capture of Field 
Pieces. — Confederates in Retreat. — Splendid Victory. — Harvest of 
Death 118 

CHAPTER XIII. 

WILLIAMSBURG. 

Battle of Williamsburg. — Scene of the Battle. — Historic Monuments. — 
College of William and Mary. — Washington and Patrick Henry. — 
Amusing Inscriptions on Tombstones. — The Battle Opens. — At- 
tack of General Hooker. — Approaches to Fort McGruder. — Bravery 
of Kearnev. — Gallantry of General Heintzelman. — De'.eit and Re- 
treat of the Enemy 129 

CHAPTER XIV. 

SEVEN PINES. 

The Preliminaries of Battle. — Cannonading and Picket-firing. — Vig- 
orous Attack of the Confederates — Undaunted Bravery of the 
Unionists. — General Casey Unjustly Censured. — Testimony of the 
Enemv. — Incidents of the Battle-field. — Sufferings of the Wounded. 
—The" First Night after Battle 136 

CHAPTER XV. 

FAIR OAKS. 

Positions Occupied by the Contending Forces — General Hooker Com- 
mences the Action. — Advance of Sickles, Grover. and Robinson. — 
General Kearney and Colonel Hicks Protect the Flanks. — Both 
Armies Enveloped in a Cloud of Smoke. — The Engagement Becomes 
General. — Defeat of the Rebels. — They Fly to Their Entrench- 
ments. — McClellan Orders a Cessation of Hostilities. — Renewal of 
the Battle. — Rout and Final Defeat of the Enemy. . . . 143 

CHAPTER XVI. 

MALVERN niLL. 

Battle of Malvern Hill. — The Final Engagement of the Peninsular 
Campaign. — Scene of the Battle. — Influence of our Gunboats. — At- 
tack of the Rebels led by General Magruder. — Destructive Fire 



CONTENTS. x iii 

from Federal Cannon. — The Rebels Repulsed. — They Reform and 
Charge Again. — Another Tempest of Fire from our Batteries 
Sweeps them from the Field. — Their (Jims are Silenced, the Horses 
Killed and Regiments Cut Down. — McOlcllan Orders a Retreat to 
Harrison's Landing. — Indignation of the Army. — General Kearney 
Protests Against the Order for Retreat. — General Martindale Sheds 
Tears of Shame, 147 

CHAPTER XVII. 

CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 

The Battle-ground -^Jackson En route for Culpepper. — Occupancy of 
Cedar Mountain. — Three Miles of Batteries. — Banks Receives the 
Attack. — A Bain of Fire. — Charge on Enemy's Battery. — Over- 
whelmed by Superior Numbers. — Rieketts to the Front. — Enemy 
Compelled to Fall Back. — Artillery Battle at Night. — Interment of 
Fallen Braves. — Losses. — The Enemy Retires.— Cedar Mountain 
Occupied by Union Troops 157 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

BRANDY STATION. 

First Battle,^Lce Resumes Hostilities. — Stuart's Cavalry Attack — 
Gallant Repulse by Kilpatrick. — Second Battle. — Skirmish at Kelly's 
Ford. — Splendid Charge of the Union Army. — Complete Rout of the 
Enemy. — Heroic Feats on the Field. — Charge of the First Maine. — 
Fall of Colonel Davis. — Third Battle. — The Enemy Swept from the 
Plains. — Prisoners and Materials of War Captured. — Fourth Bat- 
tle. — Critical Situation of Kilpatrick. — Bravery of Custer and Da- 
vies. — The Exultant Battle-Cry. — Fresh Laurels for the Union 
Troops. — Scene pn the Battle-field. — The Writer's Part in the Four 
Contests 161 

CHAPTER XIX. 

MANASSAS, OR SECOND BULL RUN. 

The Opening Scene.— Sigel in the Foreground. — Sharp Skirmish on 
the Twenty-eighth.— rFitz- John Porter's Delay. — Attack on the 
Twenty-ninth.— Bayonet Charge of Grover's Brigade. — Thorough- 
fire Gap Left Open. — The Enemy Re-enforced. — Victory on the 
Twenty-ninth. — Where Was Porter ? — Pope's Despatch. — Battle of 
the Thirtieth. — Exhausted Troops.— -Out of Rations. — Pope Dis- 
couraged. — Our Forces at Centreville.rr-Personal Experience. — A 
Shell from the Enemy and What it Did — An Unknown Hero. — 
" Tear off Your Chevrons." — Successful Stand. — Charge of the 
Harris Light Cavalry. 180 

CHAPTER XX. 

CTIANTILLY. 

Union Troops on the Defensive. — Historic Chantilly. — Pope at Fair 
fax Court-House. — Stonewall Jackson's Attack. — The Battle of the 



XIV 



CONTENTS. 



Sky. — Furious Charges. — The Enemy Repulsed. — Death of Steven9 
and Kearny. — The March to Washington. — Pope Resigns. — Porter 
Cashiered. — Tribute to Kearny 193 

CHAPTER XXI 

ANT1ETAM. 

The Enemy Concentrating on Antictam Creek. — Stonewall Jackson 
lias the* Left. — Battle at Daybreak. — The Contested Cornfield — 
lluoker Wounded. — Furious Struggle. — Pate of the Thirty-Fourth 
New York. — War's Fierce Tug. — Franklin and Fresh Troops. — 
Four Times Lost and Won. — Burnside Takes the Bridge. — Union 
Troops Carry the Hill and are Driven Back. — McClellan Sends 
Aid. — A Moment when Events Hang in the Balance. — " '1 he 
Bridge ! — Always the Bridge !" — McClellan 's Star in the Ascendant. 

197 

CHAPTER XXII. 

CORINTn. 

Topography of* the Battleground. — The Enemy Marching upon 
Corinth. — Price and Van Dorn Unite their Forces. — Three Tiers of 
Earthworks. — Preliminary Battle of the Third. — Generalship of 
Rosecrans. — Battle of the Fourth. — Two Hour* of Hot Work. — 
Forts Richardson and Robinett. — Price Driven Back. — Desperate 
Charge of Van Dorn. — A Forlorn Hope. — Colonel Rogers. — The 
Enemy Driven. — Confusion and Flight. — Heaps of Slain. — T he 
Handkerchief Flags. — " For God's Sake Spare us !" — Pursuit of the 
Foe. — Captured Spoils. — West Tennessee Safe. .... 205 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

FREDERICKSBURG. 

Burnside in Command of the Army of the Potomac. — The Advance 
to Fredericksburg. — Surrender of ihe City Refused. — Confederate 
and Union Cavalry Raids. — Capture of Rebel Picket-Posts. — I x- 
odusof Citizens from Fredericksburg. — Delay in Laying Pontoons. 
— The Seventh Michigan Crossing the River under a Murderous 
Fire. — Death of a Massachusetts Chaplain. — General Gibbon Opens 
the Battle. — Desperate Fighting. — Terrific Charge of Meade's Di- 
vision. — The Hillside Strewn with the Dead. — Death of Bayard. — 
Night after the Battle. — Heart-rending Scenes. — Termination of the 
Campaign of 1862 213 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

MURFREESBORO OR STONE RIVER. 

Rosecrans in Command of the Army of the Cumberland. — The 
Christmas Nijrlit War-Council.— The Muddy March Southward — 
The Midnight Cavalcade. — " Push Them Hard." — Fog and Hard 



CONTENTS. 



XV 



Marching. — In front of Murfrecsboro. — Tbe Hail Tent. — The Calm 
that Precedes the Battle-Storm. — Star Spangled Banner. — McCook 
Surprised. — Sheridan Stands Firm. — The Battle nearly Lost — Gen- 
eral Kosecrans Turns the Tide. — Desperate Valor. — Negley's Men 
Cut their Way Through the Confederate Ranks. — The Enemy 
Driven. — The Last Grand Charge. — Magnificent Victory. — Rose- 
crans' Star in the Ascendant 222 

CHAPTER XXV 

CHANCELLORS VILLE. 

Successful Strategy of General Hooker. — Crossing the Rappahannock 
at Sunrise. — I he Chancellorsville House — Lee's Position Flanked. 
— The Battle Opened by Sykes. — Loss of Prestige and Position by 
the Union Troops. — Capture of Prisoners by General Birney. — 
Stonewall Jackson Appears Upon the Scene. — Our Divisions Over- 
whelmed by the Rebel Hordes. — A Frantic Stampede. — Heroism of 
Major Keenan, and his men. — Heath of Stonewall Jackson. — A Fatal 
Hour. — Beating a Retreat. — Hooker's Words of Praise. — Lincoln 
Visits the Camp at Falmouth 234 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

ALDIE. 

Hooker Entraps Lee. — Reconnoissance of Pleasanton. — AUlie in 
Sight. — The Grand Charge. — Harris Light in the Van. — Fitzhugh 
Lee's Desperate Efforts.— The Desired Opportunity. — Battle of the 
Haystacks. — The Harris Light Wins. — Colonel Cesnola. — The 
Sword Presentation. — Last Desperate Attempt of the Enemy. — 
Driven From the Field in Panic. — The Battle Won. . . . 247 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

UPPERVILLE. 

Union Advance from Middleburg — Rebel Pickets Encountered. — The 
Fight Commenced. — Stone Fence Barricades. — A Succession of 
Brilliant Charges — The Harris Light Drives the Enemy. — Splen- 
did Cavalry Action. — Stand at Upperville. — The Enemy Again 
Driven. — Union Forces Triumphant. — General Pleasanton's Re- 
port 253 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

GETTYSBURG. 

Meade in Command of the Army of the Potomac. — The Camp on 
Marsh Run. — The Advance to Gettysburg. — Charge of Buford's 
Cavalry on the Rebel Van-crunrd. — The Enemy Driven Back. — 
Fall of General Reynolds. — Capture of General Archer and Eight 



XY1 



CONTENTS. 



Hundred Prisoners. — Victory Followed by Defeat — The Eleventh 
Corps Break and Fly. — Strengthening the Union Position. — Occu- 
pancy of Culp's Hili and Hound Top. — Sickle's Command Shat- 
tered. — Activity of Kilpatrick's Cavalry. — The Enemy Falls Back 
to Banner's Hill. — The Last Effort. — Terrible Slaughter of Troops. 
— The Desperate Final Charge. — The Tempest of Fire. — Death of 
Farusworth. — Capture of Prisoners. — Glorious Victory. . . 257 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

VICKSBURG. 

The Impregnable Stronghold.— The Batteries of the Bluff.— The 
Siege Begun. — A Reign of Terror. — Assault of the Nineteenth. — 
Distributing Rations. — Assault of the Twenty-second. — Desperate 
"Work. — Sergeant Griffith and the Brave Eleven. — Union Colors 
on Enemy's Bastion. — McPherson's Losses. — Failure to Carry the 
Works. — Six Weeks' Siege. — The Enemy Starved Out. — The White 
Flag. — Surrender. — Grant's Triumphant Entrance into Vicksburg. 
— " Rally Round the Flag." — Close of the Campaign. — Lincoln's 
Letter 278 

CHAPTER XXX. 

PORT HUDSON. 

The Citadel on the Bluffs.— Four Miles of Batteries.— The Pledge of 
the Northwest. — First Operations against Port Hudson. — The 
Stronghold Invested. — General Assault. — Repulse and Loss. — 
Bravery of Officers and Men. — Colonel Bartlett. — Heroic Conduct 
of Colored Troops. — The Siege Carried Forward. — Gloomy Out- 
look. — Another General Assault. — Heavy Losses. — The Enemy 
Starving. — The Delicacies of a Hat Stew. — Announcement of the 
Surrender of Vicksburg. — The Council of War in the Camp on the 
Bluffs. — Unconditional Surrender of Port Hudson. — " Flag of Union 
and Freedom Wave !" — The Promise of the Northwest Redeemed. 

289 
CHAPTER XXXI. 

FALLING WATERS. 

Kilpatrick's Advance to Ilagerstown. — Lee's Position. — Efforts to 
Cross the Swollen Potomac. — Meade Decides to Attack the Con- 
federates. — The Escape by Night. — Kilpatrick's Discovery. — The 
Cavalry in Motion. — The Encounter at Falling Waters. — The 
Enemy Surprised. — Hard Fighting. — Death of Pettigrew. — Union 
Victory. — Capture of Battle-Flags and Prisoners. — Kilpatrick's 
Letter 300 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

CHICKAMAUGA. 

Under the Shadow of Lookout Mountain. — Evacuation of Chattanoo- 
ga. — The Long Battle-line. — Bragg Contests the Union Advance. — 
Disposition of Troops at Chickamauga Creek. — Attack of the Nine- 



CONTENTS. xv ji 

teenth.— Fierce Struggle for Position.— Bragg's Attack of the 
Twentieth. — Furious Fighting. — Buckner's Battery and its Deadly 
Work. — The Union Army Cut in Two.— Thomas on Missionary 
Ridge. — The Storm Breaks. — Desperate Assault of Longstreet. — 
Repulse of the Confederates.— Thomas, Master of the Field.— The 
Enemy in Retreat.— Occupation of Chattanooga. — Letter of Rose- 
crans 307 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

BRISTOE. 

Condition of Meade's Army. — "Going Home to Vote." — Lee's Ad- 
vance.— Cavalry Encounter. — Roast Lamb and Coffee Left Behind. 
— Order for Retreat. — Fight at James City. — Incidents of the Day. — 
On to Washington. — Stuart Hemmed in at Catlett's Station — The 
Pine Thicket. — The Concealed Force".— Hill Entangled. — Battle of 
Bristoe.— Sharp Fighting.— The Confederates Beaten.— Lee in Full 
Retreat. — The Campaign Ended 316 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

NEW BALTIMORE. 

Kilpatrick's First Defeat.— Stuart Covers the Retreat of Lee.— En 
Route for Warrenton. — Fitzhugh Lee's Attack — Charge of Stuart's 
Cavalry.— Surrounded on All Sides. — Kilpatrick's Generalship. — 
The Desperate Charge —Holocaust of Death.— The Author's Cap- 
ture.— In Warrenton Jail.— A Specimen of Southern Chivalry.— 
Kilpatrick's Dinner Interrupted. — Case of the Campaign. . 323 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

FORT FISIIER. 

Outer Defences of Wilmington.— Blockade-running. — Admiral Por- 
ter's Expedition.— Rough Weather.— The Attack.— The Torpedo 
Vessel. — The First Day's Bombardment. — Reconnoissance. — 
Strength of the Fort.— Return to Hampton Roads. — Renewed 

Preparations — Attack of the Second Expedition —Bivouac Fires. 

Terrible Bombardment. — Desperate Assault of Union Troops. 

They Effect a Lodgment. — The Attack goes on. — The Last Trenches 
Cleared.— Fort Fisher Ours.— Valor of Colored Troops.— Spoils of 
Victory 329 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

OLUSTEE. 

Expedition to Florida.— Sailing of the Fleet. — John Hay. — Lincoln's 

Letter. — Objects of the Expedition. — The Camp at Jacksonville. 

Seymonr's Sudden Move. — Attempt to Checkmate the Enemy at 
Olustee. — Hemmed in by Swamps. — The Fatal Surprise. — Over- 
whelmed by Superior Numbers.— Decimated Ranks. — The Battle 
Lost — Seymour's Bravery. — Patten Anderson. — Who was to blame * 

338 



xviii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

FORT PILLOW. 

One of the Outgrowths of Slavery. — The Negro Soldiery. — Confcd 
erate Law. — The Black Flag— Location of Fort Pillow. — Forrest 
Before the Defences. — Severe Fighting. — No Surrender. — Flags of 
Truce. — Treachery. — Surprise of the Fort. — Overwhelmed l>y the 
Enemy. — The Butchery Commenced. — Horrible Scenes. — The In- 
humanity of Man. — Influence of Slavery 345 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

COLD HARBOR. 

Cold Harbor Tavern. — The Historic Cross Roads. — Grant's Design of 
Forcing the Chickahorainy. — Disposition of Troops. — Preliminary 
Fighting. — The Battle Inaugurated by a Thunder Storm. — The 
Grand Attack. — Gallant Dash of the Second Corps. — The Posi- 
tion Gained and Lost. — Vantage-ground of the Enemy. — Failure of 
Grant's coup-de-main. — The Heroic Brigade of Colonel McKean. — 
The New Thermopylae — The Enemy's Last Attack. — The Curtain 
Falls on Cold Harbor 352 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

FORT WAGNER. 

Site of the Fort. — First Assault — Bombardment from the Fleet. — 
Heaven's Artillery. — The Advance at Night. — The ' 'olored Regi- 
ment. — Furious Assault and Terrible Slaughter. — Bravery of Col- 
ored Troops. — Death of Colonel Shaw. — Waiting under a Hail- 
storm of Death. — The Possession of an Hour. — Repulse and Losses. 
— Wagner Impervious to Assault. — Progress of the Siege. — The 
" Swamp Angel " — Fort Sumter in Ruins. — Calcium Lights. — The 
Enemy Driven to the Wall. — Wagner Evacuated. — Spoils of Vic- 
tory 360 

CHAPTER XL. 

CEDAR CREEK. 

Sheridan m the Shenandoah Valley. — Pursuit of Early. — Cedar Creek 
Encampment. — The Enemy Re-enforced — The Determined Attack. 
— The Silent March. — The Slumbering Army Surprised. — The Wild 
Yell through the Fog. — The Union Army a Mass of Fugitives. — The 
Nineteenth Corps Forced Back by the Wave of Retreat — Efforts of 
the Brave Sixth —The Fight Near Middletown.— Sheridan at Win- 
chester. — His Wild Ride.— The Stream of Fugitives Arrested — The 
Union Battle-line Re-formed — Our Victorious Charge. — The Ene- 
my Routed in Confusion. — Honor to Sheridan 369 



CONTENTS. XIX 

CHAPTER XLI. 

WAYNESBORO. 

Personal Experiences. — Concealed in a Cypress Swamp. — The Union 
Guns. — Wheeler at Waynesboro. — The Enemy's Attack on Atkins. 
— Repulse. — Kilpatrick Charges the Barricades, Everything ISwept 
before Them. — Valor of Union Soldiers. — Wheeler in Disordered 
Flight. — Union Pursuit. — Kilpatrick's Report. — Sherman's Com- 
plimentary Letter. — Incidents in the Author's Escape. . 381 

CHAPTER XLII. 

BENTONVILLE. 

The Hostile Country of the Carolinas. — Shermnn's Five Hundred Mile 
March. — The Country Desolated. — A Carnival of fire. — Arrival at 
Bentonville. — Johnston Encountered. — Battle of Bentonville. — The 
Enemy Repulsed. — Bravery of Slocum's Men. — Sherman's Army 
Intrenched. — Entrance into Goldshoro. — The Goal Won. — Glorious 
Success. — Congratulatory Order of General Sherman. . . . 366 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

FIVE FORKS. 

Grant and Sherman in Consultation. — The End Drawing Near. — 
Grand Combination of Movements. — Sheridan En route for Five 
Forks. — Importance of Holding Five Forks. — The March Through 
the Rain. — Engagement on the White Oak Road — The Union 
Ranks Victorious. — The Sunday Fight. — Grant Takes Advantage 
of His Victory. — Captured Prisoners. — Davis Flying from Rich- 
mond.— Evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg. — The End Draw- 
iugJSear 392 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE SURRENDER. 

The Last Act in the Drama. — The Historic Farm-House. — Events 
Succeeding the Battle of Five Forks. — Lee's Army Hemmed in. — 
Engagement at Barnesville. — The Enemy Hopelessly Surrounded. — 
Extermination or Surrender. — Triumphant Entrance into Rich- 
mond. — Lincoln's Levee in the Confederate Capital. — The Last 
Act. — Palm Sunday Anniversary. — Universal Rejoicing. . 398 






lllu^ti°citio^. 



Page. 

' PORTRAIT OF AUTHOR, (Steel) Frontismece. 

. BOMBARDMENT OP FORT SUMTER, 25 

4 WILSON'S CREEK, 55 

J TIIE MERRIMAC AND MONITOR 85 

NIGLIT ATTACK ON FALMOUTII HEIGHTS 115 

MALVERN HILL 151 

BRANDY STATION, 107 

v GETTYSBURG 273 

i 

- ARRIVAL OF SHERIDAN AT THE BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK, 861 il-i 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 25 

surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson replied 
that " his sense of honor and his obligations to the 
Government would prevent his compliance" with the 
demand. At half-past four o'clock on the morning of 
the twelfth, the National flag was fired upon and the 
war of rebellion inaugurated. The heavy batteries of 
Mt. Pleasant and Cummings Point, a floating battery 
in the harbor and Fort Moultrie all poured in their 
red rain of shot and shell on the devoted heads of the 
patriot band in Sumter. For two hours this terrific 
bombardment was received without a reply, while 
crumbling walls tottered around them and exploding 
shells fell thick and fast. 

Calmly, at half-past six o'clock, these men number- 
ing less than a hundred, sat down under this fiery 
tempest to breakfast on their last biscuit. Afterwards 
they prepared heroically to resist the attack of an 
army of ten thousand, aided by an overpowering array 
of batteries. 

The company was divided into three reliefs, and 
Captain Doubleday with Lieutenant Snyder in charge 
of the first relief, opened the return fire. The enthu- 
siasm of the men was very great, and they remained 
steadily at the guns until relieved. The Columbiads 
and sea howitzers on the parapet were disabled, and 
the firing in that quarter became so intense that the 
men were withdrawn to the casemates. 

It also became impossible to work the barbette or 

upper uncovered guns. A sentinel cried out " shot " 

or " shell " at every discharge of the enemy's guns 

and the men were thus enabled to obtain shelter. 

For thirty-six Hours was this unequal contest waged. 

2 



26 BATTLES FOR THE US I OX. 

From the dawn of Friday morning until near the 
close of Saturday afternoon an incessant storm of 
fire fell upon the doomed fort. The wooden barracks 
inside were fired by the hot-shot batteries of the 
enemy. An eye-witness gives this vivid description 
of the scene : — 

" The fire surrounded us on all sides. Fearful that 
the walls might crack and the shells pierce and pros, 
trate them, we commenced taking the powder out of 
the magazine before the fire had fully enveloped it. 
We took ninety-six barrels of powder out and threw 
them into the sea, leaving two hundred barrels in it. 
Owing to a lack of cartridges, we kept five men inside 
the magazine, sewing, as we wanted them, thus using 
up our shirts, sheets, blankets, and all the available 
material in the fort. When Ave were finally obliged 
to close the magazine and our material for cartridges 
was exhausted, we were left destitute of any means 
to continue the contest. We had eaten our last bis- 
cuit thirty-six hours before. We came very near 
being stifled with the dense, livid smoke from the 
burning buildings. Many of the men lay prostrate on 
the ground, with wet handkerchiefs over their mouths 
and eyes, gasping for breath. It was a moment of 
imminent peril. If an eddy of wind had not ensued, 
we all, probably, should have been suffocated. 

" The crashing of the shot, the bursting of the 
shells, the falling of walls, and the roar of flames 
made a pandemonium of the fort. We nevertheless 
kept up a steady fire." 

The shells and ammunition of the upper service 
magazine exploded, destroying the tower and sending 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 



27 



the upper part of the building flying in all directions. 
Three times the fort had been on fire, the men being 
unable to extinguish it the last time. Owing to the 
proximity of the flames, the powder barrels, though 
covered with wet blankets, were in danger, and all 
but four were thrown into the sea. 

The flag-staff had been hit nine times, and at last 
it was cut down and placed upon the ramparts with 
the torn flag nailed to it. 

As twilight approached, General Wigfall, formerly 
a Texas senator, came to the fort in a skiff, bearing 
a white flag fastened to his sword. Kettell reports 
the conversation which occured. 

He said he came from General Beauregard, the flag 
of Sumter being down. 

" It is up again," replied Lieutenant Davis. 

General Wigfall then said, 

" You are on fire, let us stop this: there is a white 
flag, will any one wave it from the embrasure? " 

One of the officers replied, 

" That is for you to do if you wish your batteries to 
stop." 

General Wigfall then held out the flag when Cor- 
poral Bringhurst was directed to hold it for him. 
The Corporal did so, but the shot continued to strike 
around him. Lieutenant Davis then said, 

" If you request that a white flag be shown here 
while you hold a conference with Major Anderson, it 
may be done." 

General Wigfall then addressing Major Anderson, 
said: 

" I am from General Beauregard. You have de- 



28 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

fended your flag nobly, sir: on what terms will you 
evacuate the fort? " 

Major Anderson replied, " General Beauregard is 
already acquainted with my only terms." 

" Do I understand that you will evacuate upon the 
terms proposed the other day? " 

" Yes, sir, and on those conditions only," was the 
reply. 

" Then, sir," said Wigfall, " I understand Major 
Anderson that the fort is to be ours." 

" On those conditions only, I repeat." 

" Very well," said Wigfall, and he retired. 

The conditions were that the men should take all 
their company and individual property, their side and 
other arms, that their torn flag should be saluted and 
taken with them, and that they should march out in 
their own way and at their own time. 

The terms were agreed to, and on Sunday morning 
at about nine o'clock the men were formed in line, 
and marched out while the cannon boomed over the 
bay in salutes to the stars and stripes, and the band 
played " Yankee Doodle " and " Hail to the Chief." 
A cheer went up from the patriotic band as the old 
flag was lowered, after which they boarded the trans- 
port Isabel which took them to the United States ship 
Baltic, in the offing, whence they were carried to New 
York. 

Thus gloriously fell Fort Sumter. Can history 
furnish us nobler examples of men, who in the face 
of starvation worked more manfully at their guns in 
defence of their country's flag, nor yielded while there 
was a cartridge left to fire, or material left to make 
one? 



BATTLES FOR TJIKUXIUX. 29 

During this terrific bombardment no life was lost 
on either side, — a fact to be wondered at. 

From statistics gathered from the Charleston Mer- 
cury of May third, the Rebels during this cannonading, 
threw into and upon the fort, two thousand three hun- 
dred and sixty-one solid shot, and nine hundred and 
eighty shells from fourteen batteries. At the fiftieth 
discharge of guns in giving the salute of one hundred 
guns to the National flag, a Union soldier was killed 
by its accidental explosion, and several others were 
wounded. 

Major Anderson and his men were received at the 
North with the honor due to heroes. They had cov- 
ered their names with a glory which could not fade 
away, and while country is loved and bravery chroni- 
cled, these names, clothed in light like the stars of 
heaven, can never pass from patriotic remembrance. 



CHAPTER II. 

IBIG- BETHEL. 

General Butler at Fortress Monroe. — Decides to Attack the Rebels at 
Big Bethel. — Plan of Major Winthrop. — Crossing the Hampton 
River at Midnight. — Colonel Duryea joined by General Pierce. — 
Fatal Mistake of Colonel Bendix. — The Confederates Retreat from 
Little Bethel.— Battle of Big Bethel, and fall of Major Winthrop.— 
Gallantry and Death of Lieutenant Grebble. — Official Report ol tin 
Battle. 

EARLY in the month of June, 1861, General Ben 
jamin F. Butler, commanding a Federal force ai 
Fortress Monroe, received intelligence that the Rebels 
were fortifying themselves at an unimportant village 
known as Little Bethel, twelve miles from the for 
tress, and that five miles beyond this point, at Big 
Bethel, they were intrenching themselves in a still 
stronger position. Thus established, with the lattcc 
point as a base, they were continually issuing from 
their stronghold in marauding parties, making pris- 
oners the friends of the Union, and impressing their 
slaves into the Southern service. General Butler de- 
cided to break up these Rebel encampments, and at 
once prepared a secret expedition for the consumma- 
tion of his purpose. 

The first step in this movement was to ferry his 
troops across the Hampton River at Hampton, as the 
enemy had previously burned the bridge. Ten flat 



BATTLES FOR THE UN J OX. 31 

boats were found, capable of conveying one hundred 
and fifty-seven men each, including oarsmen. Men 
from the Naval Brigade were thoroughly instructed in 
the management of these boats, and at twelve o'clock 
on the night of the ninth of June, with carefully muffled 
oars, Colonel Duryea, commanding the troops from 
Fortress Monroe crossed the river and marched to 
Newport News — a small town at the mouth of the 
James River, where he was joined by Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Pierce with two regiments of his command which 
had been encamped at this point. The united forces 
now moved silently on towards Little Bethel. 

The expedition was well planned in every particu- 
lar, and is said to have been chiefly the work of Major 
Theodore Winthrop, approved by General Butler, and 
but for an untoward accident not unusual with a citizen 
soldiery, undisciplined and inexperienced on the field 
of battle, would have proved eminently successful to 
the Federal arms. The march of our columns was 
to be so timed that the commanders could form a 
junction and make a concentrated attack upon Little 
Bethel just at the dawn of day. We were then to 
pursue vigorously the routed and flying Rebels to 
Big Bethel, and without giving them time to recover 
from their surprise, charge their batteries at that 
point. 

In order to be secure against any accident which 
might naturally be anticipated in the darkness, no 
regiment was to commence an attack without first 
giving the watchword, and in order that they might 
recognize each other easily in the darkness a white 
badge was worn on the left arm. For a time everything 



32 BATTLES FOR THE UNI08. 

went well and all were confident of success, but as 
ofttimes before 

" The best laid plans of men and mice 
Gang aft aglee." 

At a point described as the Cross Roads by those 
who participated in the expedition, Colonel Bcndix 
with his regiment and a section of light artillery, had 
taken position with instructions to guard and hold the 
crossing at all hazards. The Unionists continued to 
move silently on towards Little Bethel. The light of 
day now began to dawn upon the advancing columns. 
The Third New York Infantry just then came cau- 
tiously moving along in the dim twilight and fog of 
the morning, on the road from Hampton. General 
Pierce and Colonel Townsend with their respective 
staffs rode together, in advance of the main column- 
These mounted officers, in the uncertain and flicker- 
ing light of the morning, presented the aspect of a 
large body of cavalry. 

It was well known that there was no cavalry with 
the Union force, hence it was not strange that Colonel 
Bendix should imagine that Rebel cavalry was about 
to assail his rear, and immediately opened fire upon 
them with his artillery, at the distance of five hundred 
yards. It was well for our men that the road was 
lower than the level of the land on either side, and 
was bordered by stone fences. Three men were nev- 
ertheless killed and eight wounded by the discharge. 
General Pierce thus unexpectedly assailed, fell back 
and dispatched couriers to Fortress Monroe for rein- 
forcements. 

Colonel Duryea, who had stationed Colonel Bendix 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 33 

at the intersection of the roads and who was himself 
advancing on the road to Little Bethel, alarmed by 
the cannonading in his rear, also retraced his steps. 
Daylight soon revealed the sad mistake of Bendix. 
lint the Rebels encamped at Little Bethel heard the 
firing, took the alarm, and without having seen the 
Federals, fled, panic stricken, to their reserves at Big 
Bethel. General Pierce now pressed vigorously for- 
ward and quickly destroyed the camp at Little Bethel 
which had been deserted less than half an hour before 
he reached it. The Union columns then pushed 
briskly on, five miles farther to Big Bethel, where the 
enemy was found to be in position to receive them, 
posted in full force behind their batteries. It was per 
haps not wise under the circumstances to order an 
assault. The Unionists were depressed by the unfor- 
tunate accident which prevented their surprising the 
Rebels. It was ten o'clock in the morning ; the troops 
had not slept for thirty hours, had marched nearly 
twelve miles, and half the distance in a scorching sun. 
Still, it was thought best to make an attack, as it 
would have been humiliating indeed to have returned 
to the fortress without firing a gun at the foe. For 
Upwards of two hours our troops fought with a deter- 
mination which would have been creditable to veter- 
ans. Facing a storm of shot and shell from rifled 
cannon and masked batteries, they drove the Rebels 
from their first line of intrenchments, when other and 
more formidable batteries opened upon them and 
forced them to retire from the unequal contest. The 
retreat was conducted in good order, Duryea's Zou- 
aves covering the rear of the retiring columns in the 



34 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

most gallant manner, keeping the enemy in check and 
picking off from the pursuing lines of the exultant 
Confederates the more reckless and daring who ven- 
tured in advance of their comrades. 

The Federal officers deported themselves with great 
coolness and intrepidity. It is generally conceded 
that the enemy brought into this action between two 
and three thousand infantry, with from fifteen to 
twenty pieces of artillery. The Federal loss was 
about forty killed and wounded. The loss of the 
enemy is not definitely known, but is supposed to 
have been somewhat less than ours, from the fact that 
they were protected by earth works, while we assaulted 
their works from an open field. Our forces retired in 
perfect order to Hampton, where they were met by 
General Butler, and subsequently transported in flat 
boats to Fortress Monroe. The failure of the expedi- 
tion was a great disappointment to the administration 
and country, and its conduct was for this reason criti- 
cised with much greater severity than it merited. 
The Rebels were so frightened by our attack "fhat thev ' 
abandoned their works and hastened the following 
day to Yorktown. The gallant Major Winthrop who 
is credited with the original plan of the expedition, 
fell in this engagement, while leading his men in a 
charge upon a redoubt. Noticing some hesitancy in 
the advancing lines, he dashed to the front, shout- 
ing, " Come on boys ! one charge and the day is 
ours !" This was his last command, and noble words 
were never more fitly spoken. A drummer boy con- 
nected with a North Carolina regiment seeing so fair 
a mark, borrowed a comrade's musket, took deliberate 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 35 

aim and discharged its contents into the breast of the 
daring Major, who fell mortally wounded, nearer to 
the enemy's works than any other man. 

Lieutenant Grebble also distinguished himself in 
this action, and sealed his devotion to the cause of the 
Union with his life. Unlimbering his gun he moved 
towards the enemy, slowly firing as lie advanced un- 
til he arrived within two hundred yards of a masked 
battery. He had but eleven men to work his gun, 
and yet with this handful of braves, he faced the deadly 
fire from the rifled cannon of the foe which had scat- 
tered our infantry and left him without support. This 
single piece of artillery was so efficiently worked that 
he silenced all in the Rebel battery except one. The 
enemy, crippled and suffering from the persistent and 
unceasing blows of the young artillerist, made a sortie, 
thinking doubtless that they could entrap or drive him 
from his position. " Now Charlie," said the gallant 
lieutenant, to Captain Bartlett, " I have something to 
fire at. Just see how I can make them skedaddle." 
He gave them three or four charges of grape and they 
fled back to their intrenchments in confusion. After 
repulsing the sortie he was left with but five men. 
Addressing Corporal Peoples, he said, " All I can 
now do will be of no avail. Limber up the gun and 
take it away." At this moment a ball from the ene- 
my's intrenchments struck him in the head and his 
body fell lifeless to the ground. 

General Butler in his official report, commenting 
on this adventure says, " I think in the unfortunate 
combination of circumstances and the result which 
we have experienced, we have gained more than we 



gg BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

have lost. Our troops have learned to have confi- 
dence in themselves under fire, the enemy have shown 
that they will not meet us in the open field, and our 
officers have learned wherein their organization and 
drill are inefficient." 



CHAPTER III. 

IBTJILiILi I=LXJ^T. 

Pate of the Battle. — Military Talent Displayed on Both Sides. — Gen- 
eral Beauregard in Command of the Confederate Forces. — Expecta- 
tions of the North and South Concerning the Result of the Battle. — 
The Division Generals Engaged. — Slow Progress of McDowell's 
Army. — Heavy Skirmish at Blackburn's Ford. — Sluggishness of 
Army Movements. — Patterson's Failure to Engage Johnston — Hos- 
tilities Commenced. — Attack of Confederate Batteries on Burnside's 
Brigade. — Struggle for the Hill beyond Warrenton Turnpike. — 
Colonel Hunter Severely Wounded. — Success of the Union Arms 
up to Three o'clock P. M. — Confederate Reenforcements Turn the 
Scale. — Panic of our Forces. They Break and Fly in Confusion. — 
The Union Army a Mass of Fugitives. — Disastrous end of the Bat- 
tle. — Patterson Blamed. 

THE Field of Bull Run and the Plains of Manassas 
will never lose their interest for the imaginative 
young or the patriotic old ; for on this field and over 
these plains are scattered the bones of more than 
forty thousand brave men of both North and South, 
who have met in mortal combat and laid down their 
lives in defence of their principles. 

On the twenty -first of July, 1861, was fought the 
battle of Bull Run, the first of a long series of en- 
gagements on these historic plains. The battles of 
Bristoe, Groveton, Manassas, Centreville, and Chan- 
tilly succeeded in 1862, and' in the summer and 
autumn of 1863 followed the cavalry actions at Aldie, 
Middleburg, Upperville, and New Baltimore. 



38 BATTLES FOR TUE UNION. 

No battle ground on the continent of America can 
present to the generations yet to come, such a gigan- 
tic Roll of Honor. Here also was displayed the best 
military talent, the keenest strategy, and the highest 
engineering skill of our civil war. Here were assem- 
bled the great representative leaders of slavery and 
freedom. Here, Scott, McDowell, Pope, and Meade, 
on the Federal side, and Beauregard, Johnston, and 
Lee on the Confederate side, have in turn held the 
reins of battle and shared both victory and defeat. 

The action which resulted in the fall of Fort 
Sumter developed extraordinary talent in the Rebel 
General P. G. T. Beauregard, and brought him con 
spicuously before the Confederate Government. Called 
for by the unanimous voice of the Southern people 
he was now ordered to take command of the main 
portion of the Confederate army in Northern Yir 
ginia. He selected Manassas Junction as his base ot 
operations, and established his outposts near Fairfax 
Court House, seventeen miles from Washington. 

General Beauregard's forces on the line of Bull 
Run, numbered on the sixteenth of July nearly forty 
thousand men and sixty-four pieces of artillery, to- 
gether with a considerable body of cavalry. The 
threatening attitude of this force, almost within sight 
of the National Capital, led General Scott to concen- 
trate the Union forces in that quarter with a view to 
meeting the Rebels in battle, and if possible, giving 
a death blow to the Rebellion. 

Ludicrous indeed, in the light of subsequent events, 
was the general conviction of the hostile sections that 
a single decisive engagement would terminate the war. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. go, 

Little did the Unionists then know of the ambitious 
designs of the pro slavery leaders, and still less did the 
uneducated, misguided masses of the South know of 
the patriotism, resources, and invincible determina- 
tion of the North. On both sides there was great 
popular anxiety for a general battle to determine the 
question of relative manhood; and especially on the 
side of the South, from an impression that one dis- 
tinct and large combat, resulting in its favor and 
showing conspicuously its superior valor, would alarm 
the North sufficiently to lead it to abandon the war. 
The New York Tribune, which was supposed at that 
time to be a faithful representative of the sentiment 
and temper of the North, said, on the nineteenth of 
July, 1861, " We have been most anxious that this 
struggle should be submitted, at the earliest mo- 
ment, to the ordeal of a fair decisive battle. Give 
the Unionists a fair field, equal weapons and equal 
numbers, and we ask no more. Should the Rebel 
forces at all justify the vaunts of their journalistic 
trumpeters, we shall candidly admit the fact. If 
they can beat double the number of Unionists, they 
can end the struggle on their own terms." 

A field for the grand combat was soon found, but 
its results were destined to disappoint both the victors 
and the vanquished. The South had looked forward 
to this field for an acknowledgment of its independ- 
ence, the North for a downfall of the Rebellion. 

At noon, on the seventeenth of July, the Federal 
troops, under the immediate command of General 
Irvin McDowell, struck tents and took up their line 
of march towards Fairfax, without baggage, and 



40 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

carrying three days rations in their haversacks. One 
division, under General Tyler, which had been en- 
camped at Falls Church, marched to Vienna, while 
the main column, led by McDowell in person, moved 
direct from Alexandria to Fairfax Court House. 

The head of General Tyler's division reached 
Vienna at sunset. The infantry turned into the fields, 
while the artillery took position on the hills. Near 
the railroad was a large woodpile, behind which the 
artillery took shelter when they fired upon an Ohio 
regiment passing in the cars. The wood was found 
convenient for bivouac fires, and the boys helped 
themselves to it without ceremony. 

The force commanded by McDowell numbered about 
thirty-five thousand men, all of whom, with the ex- 
ception of less than one regiment of the old regular 
army, were raw troops, who not only had never smelt 
powder, but were scarcely instructed in the simplest 
rudiments of the manual. Their knowledge of tacti- 
cal evolutions amounted to nothing. The best por- 
tion of the troops were militia regiments, whose term 
of service would expire within four or five days, but 
who were nevertheless launched into the campaign 
with the vague idea that they had long enough to 
serve to accomplish the purpose of the expedition. 
This undisciplined and unstable mass was divided into 
five divisions, each consisting of two or more brigades, 
and was commanded as follows: First Division — 
Brigadier General D. Tyler, Connecticut Militia ; 
Second Division — Colonel David Hunter, Third U. S. 
Cavalry ; Third Division — Colonel S. P. Heintzelman, 
Seventeenth U. S. Infantry ; Fourth Division — Briga 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 41 

dier General T. Runyon, New Jersey Militia ; Fifth 
Division— Colonel Dixon S. Niles, Second U. S. In- 
fantry. 

Accompanying the army were fifty-five pieces of 
artillery, and an unnecessarily large train. Owing to 
the inexperience of the troops in marching, and the 
obstructions placed in the way of the retiring encmv, 
the progress of McDowell's army was exceedingly 
slow, and it was not until eleven o'clock of the 
eighteenth that General Tyler's division, forming the 
advance, entered Centreville, a small village seven 
miles northeast of Manassas Junction, and separated 
from it by Bull Run, which is a fordable stream flow- 
ing in a southeasterly direction into the Potomac. 

From Centreville two roads diverge towards Bull 
Run, of which the more easterly and direct strikes 
the stream at Blackburn's Ford, not far from the 
Junction : while the other, known as the Warrenton 
Turnpike, takes a westerly course and crosses Bull 
Run at the Stone Bridge, four miles higher up. The 
village itself lies on the west side of an elevated 
ridge, and is capable of being strongly fortified. 

Without waiting for the main body to come up, 
General Tyler immediately pushed forward a recon- 
noisance to Blackburn's Ford, where, rather unex- 
pectedly, the enemy was discovered to be in large force. 
A heavy skirmish ensued, with considerable artillery 
firing; but the confederate position sheltered by dense 
woods, being considered too strong to be carried with- 
out developing a general engagement, the Federal 
troops were ordered back to Centreville, having ex- 
perienced a loss of nearly one hundred men. That 



42 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

of the enemy was somewhat less. During the 
eighteenth and nineteenth, McDowell concentrated his 
army, with the exception of Runy oil's Division, in 
and around Ccntrcville, with a view of attacking the 
Rebels along Bull Run, and between this stream and 
Manassas Junction on Saturday, the twentieth. Here 
again, the dilatoriness which seemed to be insepara- 
ble from the movements of this army, manifested 
itself. The subsistence which should have been ready 
on the evening of the eighteenth, did not arrive until 
twenty-four hours later, so that the forward move- 
ment was postponed to Sunday, the twenty-first. The 
intervening time was occupied in reconnoitcring Bull 
Run above and below Stone Bridge. By the evening 
of the twentieth McDowell had arranged his plan ot 
battle, which, in general terms, contemplated a flank 
movement in force against the enemy's left wiiig,with 
feints on his right and center. As it was found im 
practicable to cross the stream at Blackburn's Ford 
or the Stone Bridge, on account of the steepness of 
the opposite bank and the obstructions accumulated 
by the enemy, he decided that the divisions of Hun< 
ter and Heintzelman should make the passage at 
Sudley Spring, two miles above the Stone Bridge, 
while Tyler demonstrated at the latter place in readi- 
ness to cross and support the main attacking column 
when occasion should oiler. The division of General 
Miles was to be stationed as a reserve at Centreville. 
The Confederate forces were distributed on the twen- 
tieth along the right bank of Bull Run from Union 
Hill, two miles below Blackburn's Ford, to the Stone 
Bridge, and on that day comprised probably not far 



BATTLES FOB THE UNION. 43 

from twenty-five thousand men, under the command 
of General Beauregard. By the culpable, if not 
criminal negligence of General Patterson, Johnston's 
forces had been permitted to slip away from Win- 
chester in the valley, and a considerable portion of 
them had already arrived with their commander. 
Although Johnston was the senior of Beauregard, he 
waived his privilege of assuming the chief direction 
of the Rebel army, upon seeing the dispositions made 
by his associate. 

Our army being now prepared for an advance, re- 
ceived orders to move at two o'clock in the morning 
of the twenty-first. But neither officers nor men 
seemed to comprehend the fact that an encounter with 
the enemy would terminate their march, and so much 
time was consumed in getting ready to move and in 
the march itself, that the head of the column did not 
reach Sudley Springs until ten o'clock, a distance of 
eight miles from the starting point, whereas, accord- 
ing to McDowell's calculation, it should have been 
there three hours sooner. On arriving at Bull Run 
the men, being over-heated and thirsty, halted to fill 
their canteens, which was the occasion of more delay 
so that when the advance brigade of Hunter's divi- 
sion, led by Colonel Burnside, debouched from the 
woods near Stone Bridge, it was past twelve o'clock 
Iho tardiness of our troops in executing a flank 
movement, enabled Beauregard to withdraw his forces 
from Blackburn's Ford and concentrate them at the 
Stone Bridge. Beauregard was right in conjecturing 
that our troops in front of both places were not in- 
tending to make a serious attack, and the heavy clouds 



44 BATTLES FUR THE UNION. 

of dust arising in the direction of Sudley Springs 
seemed to indicate to him that beyond doubt the main 
body of our army was moving in that direction. He 
even projected a flank movement against Centrevillc, 
but through the miscarriage of an order failed to exe- 
cute it. 

The arrival of installments of Johnston's troops 
during the morning, increased Beauregard's force to 
nearly forty thousand men, now concentrated at 
Manassas Junction. 

The action commenced at eleven o'clock a. m., by 
an attack of the Confederate batteries, well protected 
by woods, upon General Burnside's brigade, which for 
some moments was subjected to a severe fire. Colo- 
nel Porter attracted by the cannonading came up to 
the support of Burnsidc, with Griffin's battery and a 
battalion of regulars. 

Burnsidc thus reinforced, pushed hack the enemy 
beyond the Warrenton Turnpike, thereby enabling the 
brigades of Sherman and Keys of Tyler's division, to 
cross Bull Bun a short distance above the Stone 
Bridge and take part in the engagement. This divis- 
ion, in accordance with the plan of the battle, had 
been manceuvering during the morning against the 
Stone Bridge, and one of its brigades commanded by 
Colonel Schcnck still remained in position on the left 
bank of the stream. The remaining brigade under 
Colonel Richardson conducted the feint at Blackburn's 
Ford. 

Colonel Ileintzelman who crossed at Sudley Springs 
in the rear Of Hunter, now came up with his division, 
and uniting it with our main force on the right bank 



BATTLES FOR THE UN J OX. 45 

of Bull Run, pressed the Confederates up the slopes 
of a hill beyond the Warrenton Turnpike where we 
were met by some well posted batteries which played 
with effect upon our advancing columns. The strug- 
gle for the possession of this hill was one of great 
determination, and our undisciplined troops, though 
fighting on unknown ground and against an enemy 
protected by woods and earthworks, showed decided 
pluck and considerable steadiness. Colonel Hunter 
having been severely wounded while leading the flank- 
ing column was succeeded by Colonel Heintzelman. 

Inch by inch and step by step the Confederates were 
pushed back, yielding their ground reluctantly and 
making repeated attempts to disable or capture our 
artillery under Griffin and Pickett, which had been 
advanced to within a few hundred yards of their line 
of battle. Three determined charges were made upon 
the former, the horses of which had been killed or dis- 
abled. Their third assault was repulsed with great 
spirit, and they were pushed back behind their rifle 
pits. General Keys had in the mean time made a 
detour of the hill with his brigade, for the purpose of 
attacking the enemy on his right flank, and the sap- 
pers and miners had been put to work to remove the 
obstructions in front of the Stone Bridge, so as to 
allow the remaining brigade of Tyler's division to cross 
and co-operate with the main force. 

Success had attended the Union arms up to three 
o'clock in the afternoon. The Confederates had been 
driven nearly a mile and a half from their original 
position, and their final disappearance gave our troops 
a few moments of much needed rest ; in fact our army 



46 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

was so much exhausted by a twelve hours' march and 
several hours in line of battle that it was in poor con- 
dition to reap the fruits of victory. In his official 
report General McDowell says : " They had been up 
since two o'clock in the morning and had made what 
to those unused to sucli things, seemed a long march, 
before coming into action, though the longest distance 
gone over was not more than nine and a half miles ; 
and though they had three days' provisions served out 
to them the day before, many no doubt either did not 
eat them or threw them away on the march or during 
the battle, and were therefore without food. They had 
done much severe fighting. Some of the regiments 
which had been driven from the hill in the first two 
attempts of the enemy to regain possession of it, had 
become shaken, were unsteady and had many men 
out of the ranks." On the other hand the Confeder- 
ates had marched a comparatively short distance and 
fought under the advantage of knowing that every 
succeeding hour would add to their strength and 
would, as a natural consequence, comparatively weaken 
their enemy. Every train from the valley brought 
regiments or brigades from Johnston's command 
while no re-inforcements had been sent to the unsup- 
ported troops of McDowell, nor was it probable that 
any could be sent. Hence the situation of the Con- 
federates even after they had been compelled to seek 
shelter in the woods, was really less critical than ours, 
for their supports were already upon the field. In 
fact the Rebel line of battle had barely retired from 
the open field when dense clouds of dust rising from 
the direction of the railroad, was an evidence of the 



BATTLES tOR 1IIE UNION. 47 

arrival of fresh troops, and from their position on the 
hill our soldiers could perceive long and well ordered 
columns of infantry hastening up in the Confederate 
rear. It was whispered instantly from rank to rank 
that General Patterson had come to their assistance ; 
and then the Plains of Manassas were made to ring 
with the hearty cheers of the Boys in Blue. The sur- 
prise and consternation may be imagined when our 
men heard still louder cheers breaking out along the 
whole Rebel front followed by a sharp fire from the 
woods on their right which rapidly extended to their 
rear. Patterson had neither come to their aid nor 
moved from his position, and the troops whose appear- 
ance had called forth such an outburst of enthusiasm 
were Johnston's remaining brigade under General 
Kirby Smith which arrived in season to turn the scale 
in favor of the Confederates. 

The effect of this surprise upon our army was 
extremely disheartening. The first line recoiled before 
the fire of the enemy, and confused by vague appre- 
hensions of being surrounded by overwhelming num- 
bers, became panic stricken and fell into disorder. 
The example was contagious. Regiment after regi- 
ment broke and fled in confusion down the hill, the 
panic momentarily increasing, until the greater part 
of the but recently victorious army, had become a 
mass of fugitives rushing pell mell across the War- 
re iiton Turnpike to the fords at which they had crossed 
in the morning, completely indifferent to the com- 
mands of their officers. 

As our retreating columns approached Bull Run the 
miscellaneous crowd of teamsters and civilians on the 



48 battles ron THE UNION. 

other side who had not crossed the stream caught the 
infection and suddenly turned their faces towards 
Washington, notwithstanding the Confederates were 
some miles distant and from eight to twelve thousand 
fresh Union troops who had not as yet been engaged, 
were in readiness to withstand their attack. But the 
Rebels, whether too much exhausted, or intimidated by 
the firmness of our reserves, made no attempt to pur- 
sue their advantage, and beyond harrassing our retreat 
with a few squadrons of cavalry, contented themselves 
with occupying the field of battle. 

Our losses, according to the official report of General 
McDowell, were four hundred and eighty-six killed, 
one thousand and twelve wounded, and thirteen hun- 
dred and four missing. Considerable artillery was 
abandoned during the retreat, including the batteries 
of Griffin and Rickets, which through loss of horses fell 
into the hands of the enemy at the beginning of the 
panic. The Confederate loss as reported by General 
Beauregard was three hundred and seventy-eight 
killed, fourteen hundred and eighty-nine wounded and 
thirty-five missing. On the Union side, Colonel Came- 
ron of the Seventy-ninth New York Volunteers was 
killed, Colonels Hunter and Heintzelman wounded, 
and Colonels Wilcox and Corcoran were taken pris- 
oners. The Confederate Generals Bee and Bartow 
were killed and General Kirby Smith wounded. 

Thus ended the famous battle of Bull Run, of which 
more absurd stories have been told than of any engage- 
ment of modern times, and the result of which filled 
the Rebels with an inflated idea of their superiority and 
contempt for their enemy, for which they were shortly 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 49 

compelled to pay dear. Our army, fighting under 
many disadvantages and against overpowering num- 
bers, was uniformly successful until their sudden 
panic ; and the vigor with which they pushed the 
Confederates may be seen in the official reports of the 
killed and wounded, and in their utter failure to pur- 
sue our retreating columns. The chief cause of our 
defeat may be attributed to the stupidity of General 
Patterson, who should have engaged Johnston on the 
Potomac and thereby prevented his forming a junction 
with Beauregard at Manassas. Had Patterson at- 
tacked or followed Johnston the battle might have 
terminated very differently, and the struggle which 
was protracted through four bloody years have been 
closed in a single campaign. 



CHAPTER IV. 

^WILSON'S CREEK. 

Ganeral Fremont in Command of the "Western Department. — Rendez- 
vous at St. Louis. — Lyon in a Critical Situation. — The March at 
_'ht. — Out of the Streets of Springfield. — The Midnight Halt. — 
Camp Fires of the Euemy. — The Rebels at Breakfast. — Sigel adds 
an Unexpected Dish to their Morning Repast. — Panic and Flight. — 
Battle and Victory, followed by Confusion. — The Mistaken Troops. — 
"Our Friends are Firing Upon us." — Sigel's Disaster. — General 
Lvon at the Front. — They cannot Break His Lines. — Heroism and 
Bravery Conquer Numbers. — Lyon's Last Charge. — Victory and 
Death. — The Nation's Beloved Hero. — Rebel Army Routed and in 
Full Retreat. — "Withdrawal to Springfield. 

IMMEDIATELY after our repulse at Bull Eun, Gen- 
eral John Charles Fremont, a brave and accom- 
plished officer who had distinguished himself in early- 
life in an expedition to California, was assignedto the 
command of the Western Department, comprising 
Illinois and the states and territories lying between 
the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. General 
Fremont assumed command on the twenty-sixth of 
July, 1861, and established his head-quarters at St. 
Louis, making that point a place of rendezvous for 
the organization of recruits then arriving as re en- 
forcements to his army. He also located a camp at 
Jefferson City for the reception and instruction of 
volunteers, and placed it under the command of Gen- 
eral John Pope. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £1 

General Fremont put forth every exertion in his 
power to raise and equip a force for the rescue of the 
state from the grasp of the Confederates, who from 
the first, were determined to possess it. Regiments 
of undisciplined troops soon began to pour in, but 
there were neither arms nor equipments sufficient for 
them, and the situation was indeed critical. Cairo 
and St. Louis were both threatened by the constantly 
increasing rebel force near Columbus ; while in south- 
western Missouri the bold and intrepid Lyon, who had 
pressed on to Springfield, was in a critical position 
owing to the greatly superior force of McCulloch and 
Rains, who were advancing to meet him, — his own 
little army being in the meantime reduced by the ex- 
piration of the term of service of the Iowa three 
months regiments. « 

Fremont's force at St. Louis, undisciplined and but 
poorly armed, was hardly sufficient to withstand an 
attack from such a force as the Rebels could bring 
against it ; and Cairo, a position of considerable im- 
portance in a military point of view, was defended by 
a handful of unorganized troops. If any reinforce- 
ments were sent to General Lyon they could not reach 
him in time to be of service, while their withdrawal 
would seriously endanger St. Louis and Cairo. He 
was poorly supplied with cavalry, he was one hundred 
and fifty miles from any railroad, and had no present 
hope of reinforcements. Had he attempted to retreat 
with such an army, it is highly probable that the en- 
tire force would have become disorganized and de- 
stroyed. Nor could he remain on the defensive at 
Springfield with an almost certain prospect of capture 



52 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

confronting him. Under this discouraging array of 
circumstances, General Lyon did not wait to be 
attacked, but determined to bring on the battle him- 
self. His only hope lay in a bold stroke. He made 
it at the cost of his life, but his army was saved. 

From the village of Springfield, Missouri, two roads 
lead outward — one to Fayetteville, Arkansas, south- 
westward, and one to Mt. Vernon, due westward. 
Both these roads cross Wilson's creek, five miles 
apart. Calling this five miles of Cross Road the base 
of a triangle, running along the stream, Springfield 
would be the apex, and the ten miles of highway lead- 
ing from that village to the points of intersection with 
Wilson's Creek, would constitute the two remaining 
sides of the triangle. Looking towards Springfield 
on this base line at the creek, General Lyon was on 
the left, Sigel on the right, and the rebel army be- 
tween. 

It was the night of August ninth. Silently the 
force under General Lyon marched out of the streets 
of Springfield, and into the open country to meet the 
enemy, outnumbering them three to one. At one 
o'clock on the morning of the tenth they came in 
sight of the rebel camp fires, and halting cautiously, 
rested on their arms till day-break. General Lyon 
hoped by surprising the enemy in front and rear, to 
put him to rout and gain a victory which would ex- 
tricate him from the difficulties of his situation. To 
accomplish this purpose he had divided his command 
in two columns — his own force taking the Mt. Ver- 
non road to attack the Rebels in front, and the other 
column under the intrepid Sigel moving down the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 53 

Fayetteville road to surprise the enemy in the rear. 
Sigel had with him six pieces of artillery, two compa- 
nies of cavalry, and several regiments of infantry. 
The term of service of the Fifth Missouri volunteers 
had expired, and Colonel Sigel, by his personal influ- 
ence had induced them to re-enlist for eight days ; but 
this re-enlistment had also expired on the day before 
the battle. Many of the officers had gone home, and 
a considerable portion of Sigel' s troops were raw 
recruits. 

At daybreak on the morning of the tenth, Sigel 
with his command came within a mile of the rebel 
camp and captured about forty prisoners — Confeder- 
ates who were going out for provisions and water. 
Quietly the Union troops marched up the hills border- 
ing Wilson's Creek and beheld below them the rebel 
encampment. The enemy were breakfasting. A 
well-directed shot from Sigel's artillery, sent directly 
into the encampment, was the first intimation they 
received of his presence. Surprised into utter disor- 
der, they retreated panic-stricken down the valley. 
Our infantry pursued, forming in the camp so recently 
occupied by the enemy. But, recovering from the 
first panic the enemy formed in line of battle, oppo- 
sing Colonel Sigel's little band with a force three 
thousand strong. Our artillery and infantry moved 
into the valley, and after a short engagement the 
enemy was driven from the field. During this time 
the sound of battle from the other end of the val- 
ley road, told Sigel that Lyon was there, and in 
order to aid him Sigel urged his troops up the valley, 
obtaining a position where any attempted retreat of 



54 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

the enemy might be cut off. He had taken one hun- 
dred prisoners, and everything looked promising, 
when by one of those accidents which no one can 
foresee, his temporary success was turned into disas- 
ter. The firing at the other end of the Cross Road 
had ceased, which led Sigcl to the impression that 
Lyon was victorious and his troops in probable pur- 
suit of the enemy. Large bodies of Confederates ap- 
pearing to the eastward, and apparently retreating 
south, confirmed this idea, but owing to the gloom of 
the morning and the absence of all uniform it was im- 
possible to distinguish Unionists from Confederates. 
At this juncture of affairs, Sigel received word that 
Lyon was advancing victoriously up the road, and the 
command not to fire upon the advancing troops, was 
given. Just as the soldiers of Sigel's command 
waved their flags in welcome to their supposed com- 
rades in arms, a destructive fire burst upon them 
which covered the ground with the dead and the 
dying, and at the same moment a Rebel battery from 
the hill sent its scathing shot and shell down upon 
the bewildered Union ranks. Utter confusion resulted. 
The cry ran from mouth to mouth, " Our friends are 
firing upon us," — nor could they be persuaded other- 
wise until the dead fell around them like leaves in 
autumn time. The horses were shot down at their 
guns, and death was reaping a terrible harvest. It 
would not have been strange if a panic had ensued 
under these circumstances among the best drilled 
troops, but most of these men were just from peaceful 
homes and had never before been under fire. 

The disorderly retreat which now commenced can- 
not, therefore, be wondered at. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 57 

Five cannon were abandoned in the confusion, and 
the foe, with wild yells, came rushing on. 

Colonel Sigel himself narrowly escaped capture in 
his efforts to arrest the rout. After this disaster it 
was impossible for Sigel to join Lyon with the rem- 
nant of his command, the enemy occupying the only 
road by which he could do so in time to make the 
movement of use. There was no alternative for Sigel 
but to withdraw his shattered ranks from the field as 
safely as possible. 

Meantime General Lyon on the other road had 
encountered the enemy's pickets at day-break, which 
prevented the surprise from being as great as was 
that of Sigel. When Lyon reached the north end of 
the camp he found the enemy prepared to receive him, 
but he succeeded in gaining a commanding position 
at the north of the valley in which the camp was sit- 
uated. Abbott describes this part of the engagement 
as follows : " Captain Plummer with four companies 
of infantry protected his left flank. The battle was 
now commenced by a fire of shot and shell from Cap- 
tain Totten's battery and soon became general. In 
vain did the Rebel host endeavor to drive Lyon from 
his well chosen position. On the right, on the left, 
and in front they assailed him in charge succeeding 
charge, but in vain. His quick eye detected every 
movement and successfully met and defeated it. The 
overwhelming numbers of the Rebels enabled them to 
replace, after each repulse, their defeated forces with 
fresh regiments, while Lyon's little band found no 
time for rest, no respite from the battle. The Rebel 
host surged wave after wave upon his heroic lines, as 



58 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

billows of the sea dash upon the coast. And as the 
rocks upon that coast beat back the flood, so did these 
heroic soldiers of freedom with courage which would 
have ennobled veterans, and with patriotism which has 
won a nation's homage and love, hurl back the tireless 
surges of rebellion, which threatened to engulf them. 
It will be enough for any of these patriots to say, ' I 
was at the battle of Wilson's Creek,' to secure the 
warmest grasp of every patriot's hand. 

" Wherever the missiles of death flew thickest, and 
the peril of battle was most imminent, there was Gen- 
eral Lyon surely to be found. 

" His young troops needed this encouragement on 
the part of their adored leader and it inspired them 
with bravery which nothing else could have conferred. 
His horse had been shot under him ; three times he 
had been wounded, and though faint from the loss of 
blood, he refused to retire even to have his wounds 
dressed ; in vain did his officers beseech him to avoid 
so much exposure. It was one of those eventful 
hours, which General Lyon fully comprehended, in 
which there was no hope but in despair. 

"Again and again had the enemy been repulsed, only 
to return again and again, with fresh troops to the 
charge. Colonels Mitchell, Deitzler, and Andrews 
were all severely wounded. All the men were ex- 
hausted with the long unintermitted battle, and it 
seemed as though one puff of war's fierce tempest 
would now sweep away the thin and tremulous line. 
Just then the Rebels again formed in a fresh and solid 
column for the charge. With firm and rapid tread 
and raising unearthly yells they swept up the slope. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 59 

General Lyon called for the troops standing nearest 
him to form for an opposing charge. Undaunted, and 
ready for the battle they inquired ' Who will be our 
leader?' 'Come on, brave men,' shouted General- 
Lyon, ' I will lead you.' In a moment he was at 
their head. At the next moment they were on the 
full run : at the next, a deadly storm of bullets swept 
their ranks, staggering but not checking them in their 
impetuous advance, — on — on they rushed, for God and 
Liberty ; and in another moment the foe were dis- 
persed like dust by the gale. The victory was entire ; 
this division of the Rebels could rally no more ; the 
army was saved ; but Lyon was dead! Two bullets 
had pierced his bosom. As he fell one of his officers 
sprang to his side and inquired anxiously, * Are you 
hurt ?' ' Not much,' was his faint reply. They 
were his last words. He fell asleep to wake no more." 

After Lyon's death Major Sturgis assumed com- 
mand. His forces were exhausted with the long bat- 
tle ; they had had no water since the evening before, 
and could get none nearer than Springfield. A foe 
confronted them twenty thousand strong, and though 
one victory had been gained, another battle impended. 
Sigel's disaster was unknown to them, and when a 
heavy column approached from the direction in which 
Sigel's guns had been heard, bearing the American 
flag and wearing uniforms not unlike their own, they 
naturally supposed the force to be Sigel's. The ad- 
vancing troops were allowed to approach unmolested. 

Suddenly the Union banner was hauled down, the 
Rebel colors went up and at the same time a discharge 
of artillery from a hill near by, swept our ranks. 

3* 



60 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

The fiercest battle of the day now commenced. But 
Major Sturgis and his command sustained the unex- 
pected attack with unwavering firmness. The line 
remained compact, without a break, and though at 
times it seemed as though the brave little band would 
be utterly swept away, yet with muzzle to muzzle and 
almost hand to hand the unequal contest was waged. 
Suddenly, by an ingenious manoeuvre, the reserve was 
brought upon the enemy's flank and in a short time 
the whole Rebel army was routed and in full retreat. 

Not having sufficient force to follow up the victory 
Major Sturgis withdrew to Springfield, reaching that 
place at about five o'clock in the evening. The dis- 
comfited foe attempted no molestation. Their plans 
had been thwarted and their baggage train fired and 
destroyed. 

Therefore in its results, the battle of Wilson's Creek 
may be counted a victory. It is probable that but for 
the natural mistake into which Sigel's forces were led, 
the complete rout of the entire rebel army under 
Price would have been effected. 

Nor is it probable that an attack conducted in any 
other way by so small a force upon one so much larger 
would have been equally successful. 

The results desired were obtained, but at what fear- 
ful cost ! A nation mourned when Lyon fell. Said 
the New York Tribune, in an issue of that time. 
" Such honors were never before, perhaps, paid to so 
young a general. 

" Funeral obsequies attended him from the battle- 
field where he fell, across one half a continent, taken 
up from state to state, from city to city, from village to 



BATTLES FUR THE UNION. Q\ 

village and carried forward for near two thousand 
miles, amid the tearful eyes, the bowed heads and the 
deepest expressions of personal sorrow of hundreds 
of thousands of grateful people." 

Thus was the soil of Missouri again bedewed with 
patriot gore, and when the young of future genera- 
tions shall search history for examples of sublime 
heroism, among those who died for the cause of Union 
and Liberty, surely no nobler instance can be found 
than that of Lyon at Wilson's Creek. 



CHAPTER V. 

ZB^XjIj'S BLUFF. 

Situation of Ball's Bluff. — The Hostile Armies on Opposite Banks of 
the River. — Reconnoitre at Drainesville. — Feint of Gorman's Brig- 
ade at Edward's Ferry. — Attack of the Enemy from the Woods. — 
Union Troops Exposed to a Murderous Fire. — Death of Baker. — 
Ineffectual Means of Transportation. — Attempts to Regain the 
Maryland Shore. — Troops Shot or Drowned in Crossing. — Defeat 
of the Union Arms. — Causes of the Disaster. 

The months of August and September, 1861, passed 
away without action on the part of General McClellan, 
who had been elevated to the command of the Army 
of the Potomac. 

The battle of Ball's Bluff, which was fought on the 
twenty first of October, just three months after the en- 
gagement at Bull Run, was an event that cast a pro- 
found gloom over the country, not only because of the 
defeat of the Union arms and the death of a noble and 
brave officer, but because of the disappointment which 
it caused to the hopes that had been excited through 
the growth and development of the army. Ball's 
Bluff is the name applied to a part of the bank of the 
Potomac east of the village of Leesburg. Opposite 
the Bluff and about one hundred yards away is Harri- 
son's Island, a long narrow tract, containing about 
four hundred acres. Between this island and the 
Virginia shore the river is about two hundred yards 



BA TILES FOR THE UNION. 53 

broad, with an exceedingly rapid current. Between 
the island and the Maryland shore, the stream is nearly 
three hundred yards wide, but not quite so rapid. A 
few rods above the upper end of the island is a ferry 
across the Potomac known as Conrad's Ferry, and 
about an equal distance below the island is Edward's 
Ferry. The two hostile armies had for many months 
held the opposite banks of the river at this point. It 
was here that the Confederates had contemplated an 
irruption into Maryland to attack Washington. Gen- 
eral Banks held the Maryland side of the river from 
Great Falls to Edward's Ferry ; from that point to 
Conrad's Ferry was stationed the division of General 
Stone, with headquarters at Poolesville. Next in order 
came the force of Colonel Geary and then that of Col- 
onel Lander. On the Virginia side the principal Con- 
federate posts were at Leesburg and Drainesville. 
As it was important to ascertain the strength of the 
enemy at the latter place, General McClellan on the 
nineteenth of October, directed General McCall to 
make a reconnoisance in that quarter. McCall execu- 
ted this order the same day and returned to his camp 
at Poolesville on the twentieth, reporting no enemy in 
Drainesville nor within four miles of Leesburg. In 
consequence of this report the following dispatch was 
sent to General Stone : — 

"To Brigadier-General Stone, 

Poolesville, Md.: 
General McClellan desires me to inform you that Gen- 
eral McCall occupied Drainesville yesterday, and is still there. 
Will send out reconnoisances to-day in all directions from that 
point. The General desires you to keep a good lookout from 



(J4 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Leesburg, to see if the movement has the effect to drive them 
away. Perhaps a slight demonstration on your part would 
have the effect to move them. 

A. V. Colbukn, 
Assistant Adjutant- General." 

As soon as these instructions reached General Stone, 
he ordered the brigade of General Gorman to Edward's 
Ferry ; detachments of the Fifteenth and Twentieth 
Massachusetts to Harrison's Island ; and a section of a 
Lattery and the California and Tammany Regiments 
under Colonel Edward D. Baker to Conrad's Ferry. 
A feint to cross the river was then made by the force 
of General Gorman, in full view of the enemy. 

At twenty minutes after one o'clock, on the morn- 
ing of the twenty-first, Colonel Devens with five com- 
panies of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, accompanied by 
Colonel Lee with a portion of the Twentieth Massachu- 
setts, crossed from Harrison's Island to the Virginia 
side and took position on the top of Ball's Bluff, which 
at this point rises abruptly some one hundred and 
fifty feet from the river. In order to draw attention 
from the movement of Devens, General Stone instruct- 
ed Colonel Gorman to hurry two companies of the 
First Minnesota Infantry across the river and to send 
out a squadron of Cavalry on the Leesburg road. In 
the meantime General Stone, having received a mes- 
sage from Colonel Devens stating that he had found 
no enemy, ordered a battalion of the Fifteenth Massa- 
chusetts to cross and protect the flank of Devens, and 
Colonel Baker to be in readiness with his brigade to 
act as a support if necessary. Colonel Devans con- 
tinuing to push forward, encountered a large body of 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 65 

Confederate troops near Lcesburg a few minutes after 
sunrise, and immediately fell back in good order to 
the Bluff. While waiting reinforcements and further 
orders he was attacked about noon by the enemy who 
opened fire from a concealed position in the woods. 

The small Union force suffered greatly from this 
attack, being drawn up in an open field of about six 
acres and exposed on all sides to the fire of the Con- 
federate sharpshooters. Detachments of the First Cali- 
fornia, Twentieth Massachusetts, Tammany Regiment, 
and four pieces of artillery had now crossed the river, 
and at twenty minutes after two o'clock in the after- 
noon, the skirmishing in front became very brisk. 

Colonel Baker, having assumed command of the 
entire force, formed his line for action at four o'clock 
— the Fifteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts on the 
right, the Californians on the left and the Tammany 
Regiment and the artillery in the centre. Indications 
of a large Confederate force now became apparent 
although none were visible. These troops numbering 
not far from four thousand men pressing upon the 
little band of Colonel Baker with increasing vigor and 
more effective fire, induced a consultation among the 
Union officers which resulted in a determination to 
stand. A retreat was sure to result in disaster, as such 
a movement would bring them to the steep brink of 
the river, where the rapid descent only led to a small 
boat and a scow as a means of transport over a swift 
channel. To hold their gromid until reinforcements 
could cross at Edward's Ferry and come to their aid, 
was now their only hope. Two companies being 
pushed forward, to feel the Confederates in the woods 



66 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

on the left, were met by a murderous fire which seemed 
to be the signal for an attack along the whole line of 
the enemy, who, readily discovering their superiority 
in numbers, closed in on both sides of the field with 
overwhelming force. 

The gallant Colonel Baker fell dead while in the act 
of leading his men in a charge. Colonel Cogswell of 
the Tammany Regiment now assumed command, and 
as he found it impossible to hold his position attempt- 
ed to regain the Maryland shore. Our troops retired 
in good order closely pursued by the Confederates. 
On reaching the river but one boat was at hand and 
that was swamped at the second crossing. After the 
boat went down no alternative was left but to swim or 
surrender. The majority chose the former course and 
throwing their arms into the river, dispersed, some 
up and some down the bank, and others on logs 
endeavored to reach Harrison's Island by swimming. 
In this attempt many were shot and more were 
drowned. The artillery was tumbled down the bank 
but was subsequently taken up by the enemy, together 
with some cases of shot. 

Not more than nine hundred of our men returned 
to their camps, about half of the missing having been 
taken prisoners on the river shore. The Confederates, 
who were commanded by General Evans, admitted a 
loss of one hundred and fifty-five. 

During the progress of the battle, General Stone 
was preparing to cross the river at Edward's Ferry, 
but desisted on the receipt of news announcing the 
death of Colonel Baker and the defeat of his command. 
Orders were then received from McClellan to hold the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. QJ 

Island and Virginia shore at Edward's Ferry, at all 
hazards. General Gorman at once proceeded to 
strengthen his position, and reinforcements came for- 
ward until there were nearly four thousand Infantry, 
with Ricketts' Battery, and a detachment of cavalry, 
on the Virginia shore, behind five hundred feet of in- 
trenchments. Further intelligence caused a change 
of plan and the whole force returned to the Maryland 
side of the Potomac. 

The principal causes of our repulse at Ball's Bluff 
were the selection of a miserable point for crossing 
the Potomac, insufficient means of transportation and 
lack of a definite object in venturing into a position 
where retreat was utterly impossible in the face of 
greatly superior numbers. 



CHAPTER VI. 

MILL SPRHSTG-. 

Geographical Location of Mill Spring. — Encampment of Zollicoffer.— 
Occupancy of Logan's Cross Roads by Union Troops. — The Enemy 
Hedged in. — Starvation or Battle. — Zollicoffer Leads the Rebel Ad- 
vance. — Colonel Fry Discovers a General's Uniform under a Rubber 
Overcoat. — The Fatal Shot. — Zollicoffer Falls. — Consternation and 
Rout of the Enemy. — A Deserted Camp. — Victory for the "Boys 
in Blue." 

On the blue waters of the- Cumberland, about 
twenty-five miles southeast of Columbia, and fifteen 
miles west of Somerset, is situated Mill Spring, Ken- 
tucky, made famous as one of the battle grounds of 
the war, and as the spot where' fell the popular Con- 
federate General Zollicoffer, shot dead by the pistol 
of Colonel Fry of the Fourth Kentucky Volunteers. 

During the late autumn of 1861, and early winter 
of 1862, General Zollicoffer was encamped at Mill 
Spring, on the southern bank* of the Cumberland. 
Resolving also to occupy the opposite or northern 
bank at Camp Beach Grove, he fortified the latter 
place with earthworks, and placed there five regiments 
of infantry, twelve guns, and several hundred cavalry, 
keeping at Mill Spring two regiments of infantry and 
a few hundred horse. About 'the first of January, 
1862, the force was augmented by the brigade of 
General Carroll, from Knoxville, — General George B. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. gg 

Crittenden having arrived and taken command a short 
time previous. 

On the seventeenth of January, pursuant to orders 
from General Buell, General Thomas advanced and 
occupied Logan's Cross Roads, ten miles north of the 
Beech Grove Camp. The enemy was in a critical 
situation. Already on short allowance, their supplies 
of food promised to be cut off entirely. The sur- 
rounding country had been exhausted, and the sup- 
plies which might have come down the Cumberland 
from Nashville, were prevented by the Union forces 
stationed at Columbia. In every direction the roads 
leading outward into the more remote country were 
impassible. Added to this, General Schoepf held the 
key to the position fifteen miles to the eastward, at 
Somerset. Therefore, the only way out of this en- 
vironment of difficulties which surrounded them, was 
to make an attack upon the Union forces at Logan's 
Cross Roads. The design was to attack our troops 
before the force at Somerset would be able to join 
them, and also before the reserve at Columbia could 
be brought up. In pursuance of this plan, on the 
nineteenth of January, the brigade of Zollicoffer 
moved in advance, followed by that of Carroll and the 
reserve, constituting a force of about four thousand 
infantry. Zollicoffer's command consisted of four 
regiments of infantry and four guns. Two Missis- 
sippi companies were deployed as skirmishers, march- 
ing one on each side of the road. About two miles 
from camp the Federal cavalry was encountered and 
driven in, and Zollicoffer rode confidently on, as he 
believed, to victory. A rubber overcoat disguised his 



70 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

uniform, but his features were too well known to pre- 
vent him from being a mark for the muskets of the 
" boys in blue." The fatal hour for him crept on 
apace, and as the Confederate General, surrounded by 
his staff, ascended a hill, he encountered the main 
body of the Federal troops. It was at this point that 
Colonel Fry of the Fourth Kentucky infantry, recog- 
nizing the Rebel leader, took swift aim with his re- 
volver, and the fall of Zollicoffer attested the sure 
work of the pistol ball. 

Consternation and disorder among the Confederate 
troops followed, and in the resulting confusion the 
Ninth Ohio charged with the bayonet, turning the 
enemy's flank and driving him from the field. Thus 
the Confederate forces fell ingloriously back to their 
intrenchments on the Cumberland. 

The cannonade was continued until dark. In the 
evening the forces under General Schoepf at Somer- 
set, came up, and on the following morning the can- 
nonading was resumed with Parrott guns, the fire 
being directed in part against the ferry across Fishing 
Creek — a swollen torrent between Columbia and Som- 
erset — to keep the enemy from crossing. Upon ap- 
proaching the intrenchments it was discovered that 
the enemy had decamped during the night, abandon- 
ing everything, — twelve guns, with caissons filled, one 
hundred and fifty wagons, one thousand horses, and 
many stores. After crossing they had burned the 
ferry boats, so that pursuit was impossible. As they 
could not hold the camp they were obliged to abandon 
everything and retire to the most accessible point of 
supply. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 1\ 

The Union loss was thirty-nine killed, and two hun- 
dred and seven wounded. The Confederates lost one 
hundred and ninety killed, sixty-two wounded, and 
eighty-nine prisoners, besides the loss of General Zol- 
licoffer and Baillie Peyton, and also a large number 
that were drowned while crossing the Cumberland. 

The battle of Mill Spring was one of a series of 
engagements which resulted so successfully, that by 
March 1st, 1862, every Confederate soldier had left 
the State. 



CHAPTER VII. 

-PE.^ IF*. I ID <3- E . 

The Boston Mountains Camp. — Red Skin Re-enforcements. — Sigel's 
Ten-mile Fight. — The Long Battle- Line. — " War's Thunders and 
Flowers of Red Shot." — Sigel Frustrates McCulloch. — Struggle 
Between Osterhaus and McCulloch. — Bold Charge of Indiana 
Troops. — Re-enforcements. — Night brings a Suspension of Hostili- 
ties. — Battle at Sunrise. — Terrible Array of Union Batteries. — Two 
Hours of Iron Hail. — The Enemy Completely Routed. —Precipitous 
Retreat to the Boston Mountains. — Death of McCulloch. — Fearful 
Barbarities. — Burial of the Dead. — Elk Horn. 

THE opening scenes in the drama of this battle 
slowly merged into view during the first days of 
March, 1862. The wild scenery of Northwestern 
Arkansas, where the rugged outlines of the Boston 
Mountains throw their shadows in the sun, constituted 
its shadowy back-ground. 

Sterling Price and Ben McCulloch were there, hav- 
ing been driven from Sugar Creek, fifty miles away, 
by our forces. There, too, Earl Van Dorn's troops 
reenforced them, not only with the flower of the South- 
ern chivalry but also with the dusky ranks of the Lo 
family — a body of Choctaw, Cherokee, and Chickasaw 
Indians under the leadership of Confederate Pike. 
Added to this, came also the division of Mcintosh, 
making the powerful array of nine thousand Missouri 
State troops under Price, six Arkansas regiments un- 
der McCulloch, five Texan regiments under Van Dorn, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 73 

and some three thousand Indians under Pike and 
Mcintosh, aggregating between twenty and twenty- 
five thousand men. This force carried seventy guns, 
and Van Dorn was their chief. The Union General 
Curtis waited expectantly at Sugar Creek, a short 
distance south of Pea Ridge, preparing himself for 
the storm of battle about to break above his head. 

Meantime, on March fifth, Sigel, then at Benton- 
ville, ten miles away, received orders to join Curtis at 
Pea Ridge, and on the next day the command was 
promptly executed. But it was a hazardous and 
difficult achievement. Four Confederate regiments 
attacked his rear-guard, which consisted of the Thirty- 
Sixth Illinois, and Second Missouri. But the attack 
was useless, for these brave men cut their way through 
the solid living wall of Rebel soldiery and rejoined 
their comrades, though with a loss of twenty-eight 
killed and wounded and a number of prisoners. For 
the entire distance of ten miles Sigel contested every 
step of his advance. Supported by the infantry, his 
guns were halted, and the advancing Rebel ranks, un- 
able to stand before the discharges of grape and shell 
from the effective aim of our artillerymen, broke and 
fled in confusion. Before the scattered ranks of the 
enemy could re-form, the guns of Sigel were limbered 
and the troops fell back into position behind another 
battery planted at the next turn in the road. This 
programme was continuously enacted for the entire 
distance of ten miles between Bentonville and Pea 
Ridge. At last Sigel arrived at the west end of Pea 
Ridge, where he formed a junction with the divisions 
of Generals Carr and Davis. 



74 BATTLES FOR TIIE UNION. 

On the morning of the fifth of March, General Yan 
Dorn moved forward with his command, taking with 
him four days cooked rations. He had decided to 
attack our rear and endeavor thus to cut off our base 
of supplies and reinforcements. 

The Union position was on the main road leading 
from Springfield to Fayetteville, and General Van 
Dorn, leaving that road near the latter place and 
passing through Bentonville, entered the main road 
again near the state, boundary eight miles north of 
Sugar Creek. A considerable body of Indians took 
position about two miles away on our right, to divert 
attention from the main attack in the rear, while a 
small force was left to make a feint upon our front. 
The first two divisions of the Union troops were com- 
manded by Sigel, and the entire force was in four 
divisions under Colonel Osterhaus, General Asboth, 
Colonel Jefferson C. Davis, and Colonel Carr, respeck 
ively. When the intention of the enemy to attack 
our right and rear became apparent to General Cur- 
tis, he changed front so that his right wing which was 
at Sugar Hollow Creek, became his left wing under 
Sigel, while Carr at the head of Big Sugar Creek held 
the new right. The line stretched across Pea Ridge. 
It was early on the morning of the seventh, and Carr's 
division advanced to a point up the road within four 
miles of the Arkansas and Missouri State line, while 
the brigade of Colonel Dodge filed off from the main 
road east of the Elk Horn hotel, and Vandeveer's 
brigade passed a half mile beyond the hotel, taking 
position on the left of the road. 

The enemy, sheltered by some woods, were posted 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 



75 



on a declivity in front of the Elk Horn house. Col- 
onel Dodge now inaugurated the battle by opening 
fire on the enemy at that point, but he met with a 
prompt response. At the same time also, a battery 
from our lines sent its well-directed fire into the ranks 
of the enemy with great effect, but was sharply replied 
to, exploding two of the Union caissons. Nine o'clock 
had arrived and the whole line was engaged in the 
fury of battle. In a short time after this the enemy 
captured one of our guns, but the Ninth Iowa infantry 
supports coming up at this time discharged their fire 
with such vigor into the Rebel ranks that they were 
driven to the shelter of the woods. Repeated charges 
were made by the enemy, and another gun and caisson 
were captured, but the steady fire of our troops strewed 
the ground with their dead. Carr, holding an unten- 
able position and overpowered by superior numbers, 
was compelled to retire until about four in the after- 
noon, when Colonel Asboth supporting him with two 
regiments and a battery, he was enabled to hold his 
ground for the night. The enemy were armed with 
double-barreled shot guns, loaded with ball and buck 
shot — an effective weapon at short range. 

On the left wing McCulloch endeavored to form a 
junction with the troops of Van Dorn and Price, thus 
surrounding our army on three sides and cutting off 
our retreat. But the quick eyes of Sigel, detecting the 
movement, he ordered forward three pieces of flying 
artillery and a force of cavalry to take a commanding 
position and delay the movements of the enemy until 
our infantry could be brought up in position for an 
attack. But these pieces had hardly obtained their 

4 



76 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

position when an overwhelming force of the enemy's 
cavalry swept down upon them, capturing our artillery 
and driving our horsemen. This movement enabled 
their infantry to reach in safety the cover of a dense 
wood where McCulloch encountered Osterhaus and a 
severe struggle ensued. Davis was now ordered to 
the support of the Union line, and the Third Iowa was 
sent forward to clear the timber ; but the enemy were 
in great numbers, the ranks of our cavalry were 
broken, in disorder, and pursued, and we suffered the 
capture of three guns. But at this critical juncture 
Osterhaus and his Indiana regiments came up on the 
double-quick and sending a murderous fire into the 
enemy's ranks, charged immediately after with the 
bayonet. This bold charge put to rout the Indians 
and Texans, and the three captured field pieces were 
recovered. The command was then recnforced by 
General Sigel, and the action re- commenced with 
greater fury than before. 

The heavy guns of the enemy were brought into 
position and an artillery battle took place which re- 
sulted in the retirement of the enemy in confusion, 
leaving the Union troops masters of this part of the 
bloody field. Night let fall her intervening curtain of 
darkness between the contending armies, with Union 
success on the left, defeat on the right, and the battle 
yet unfinished. At dark the firing ceased from all 
quarters and the exhausted soldiers slept upon their 
arms. Carr's division now occupied the center with 
Davis on the right, and Sigel still holding the left. 
Near the position occupied by our forces a hill rose 
abruptly to the height of two hundred feet, very pre- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 77 

cipitous in our front, but sloping gradually to the 
northward. On this eminence the enemy during the 
mght had planted batteries which commanded our 
forces, and also at the right base of this hill, batteries 
and large bodies of infantry were posted. At the 
edge of some timber to the left, supports of infantry 
were disposed, while beyond the road, to the extreme 
left, were posted their cavalry and infantry. 

At sunrise our right and center with their batteries, 
opened fire upon the enemy, while Sigel, having 
learned the exact position of the enemy's batteries, 
advanced with the left wing to take the hill, forming 
his line of battle by changing front so as to face the 
right flank of the enemy. 

Sigel then ordered the Twenty-Fifth Illinois into 
position along a fence in open view of the Confeder- 
ate batteries, which immediately opened fire upon 
them. One of our batteries, consisting of six or 
seven guns, several of which were rifled twelve-pound- 
ers was at once thrown into line one hundred paces to 
the rear of our advanced infantry, on a rise of ground 
The Twelfth Missouri then wheeled into line with 
the Twenty-Fifth Illinois on their left, and another 
battery of guns similarly arranged a short distance 
behind them. But the crushing array was not yet 
complete, for still another regiment and another bat- 
tery wheeled into position, until thirty pieces of 
artillery, fifteen or twenty paces distant from each 
other, formed one unbroken line, with the infantry 
lying down in front. As each piece circled into posi- 
tion, its fire was discharged at the enemy, and the fire 
of the entire line was so effective as to silence every 



78 BATTLES FOR TUE UNION. 

Confederate battery, one by one. " Such a terrible 
fire no human courage could stand. The crowded 
ranks of the enemy were decimated, their horses shot 
at their guns, and large trees literally demolished ; 
but the Rebels stood bravely to their posts. For over 
two hours did the iron hail fall, until one by one the 
Rebel pieces ceased to play. Onward crept our in- 
fantry ; onward came Sigel and his terrible guns. 
Shorter and shorter became the range. No charge of 
theirs could face that iron hail or dare to venture on 
that compact line of bayonets. They turned and fled. 
The center and right were ordered forward, the right 
turning the left of the enemy and cross-firing on his 
center. This final position of the enemy was in the 
arc of a circle. A charge of infantry by the whole 
line completely routed them; and they retreated 
through the deep, impassable defiles of Cross Tim- 
ber, towards the Boston Mountains, closely pursued 
by the cavalry." 

The Union loss at this battle was two hundred and 
twelve killed, nine hundred and seventy-two wounded, 
one hundred and seventy-six missing. The enemy's 
loss was reported at two thousand. General Herbert, 
Colonel Stone, Adjutant General, and Colonel Price 
were taken prisoners. Ben. McCulloch, General Mc- 
intosh, and General Stark were among the killed. 
General Price was wounded. 

On the ninth of March, General Van Dorn asked 
permission to bury the dead of the seventh and eighth. 
General Curtis granted permission, but in the letter 
accompanying it complained that in some cases the 
Union dead had been scalped and mangled. General 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 79 

Yan Dorn replied, expressing a desire to repress the 
savage horrors of war, and stated that numbers of 
Confederate prisoners who had surrendered, were re- 
ported to have been murdered in cold blood by the 
Germans. General Curtis replied that he had no 
knowledge of any such atrocities committed by Ger- 
man soldiers under his command. 

A strange feature of this contest was the employ- 
ment of the wild hordes of Indian tribes under the 
leadership of McCulloch and Mcintosh. They rushed 
to the fray with savage war-whoops and hideous 
yells, and the cleft skulls lying in pools of blood after 
the battle, showed that their barbarian mode of war- 
fare had not been forgotten. McCulloch met his fate 
on the first day of the battle, leading the advance on 
the left. A minie ball penetrated his left lung, and 
he died of the wound at about eleven o'clock that 
night. His career as a soldier was a checkered one. 
His military glory beginning among the assembled 
ranks of Texan Rangers on the banks of the Guada- 
loupe, twenty-six years before, now went down in 
blood. San Jacinto and Buena Vista had witnessed 
his bravery, but the field of Pea Ridge witnessed his 
fall, fighting against country — against liberty. It 
was a bloody engagement, lasting fifteen hours, — the 
greater part of two consecutive days being spent in 
battle. But northern Arkansas was cleared of Con- 
federate troops, and the forces of Van Dorn and Price 
were sent to the support of Beauregard at Memphis. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

3vIEI=L^^.IIvl^-0 ^.ISTTD MOISTITOFL. 

The Projection of the Monitor. — Ericsson's Visit to Washington. — The 
Merrimac Launched. — Arrival off Newport News. — Attack on the 
Cumberland. — Heroism of the Crew. — No Surrender. — Sublime 
Bravery. — Sinking of the ill-fated Frigate. — The Burning of the 
Congress. — Despair of the Fleet. — The Speck of Light on the 
Waves. — Arrival of the Monitor. — The Merrimac Again Appears. — 
The Strange Looking Antagonist. — The Fight Opens. — Fierce Con- 
flict.— The Baptism of Fire.— Four Hours of Battle. — The Merri- 
mac Signals for Help. — The Monitor Victorious. — Our Fleet Saved. — 
Cheers of the Multitude. 

PERHAPS no single event of our last war decided 
issues of greater moment to the nation than the 
naval engagement between the Merrimac and Monitor. 
Had the Merrimac been successful, every other craft 
on the high seas, at home or abroad, would have been 
at her mercy. Going about like some wild monster 
of the deep, with her iron tusk and her coat of mail, 
impervious to shot or shell, she could have destroyed 
whole fleets and sent them whirling to the bottom. 
New York city would have been unsafe, — every city 
on the coast would have been unsafe, and the proba- 
ble ravages of this iron Leviathan can hardly be prop- 
erly estimated. What might have happened but for 
the Monitor, who can tell ? But the Monitor, Provi- 
dentially — can we believe otherwise ? — proved to be 
our David of the seas who slew the iron-clad Goliah 
and saved to us our navy. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. g^ 

Instigated and pushed forward by private enter- 
prise, she was successfully launched in the face of all 
adverse prediction, and arrived off Newport News 
barely in time to arrest the Merrimac on her errand 
of wholesale destruction. 

C. S. Bushnell, Esq., a capitalist of New Haven, 
Connecticut, learning of Captain Ericsson's plan for 
an invulnerable sea battery, was the prime mover 
in the building of the Monitor. That gentleman 
insisted on taking the model to Washington, in com- 
pany with Ericsson, and submitting the new and 
strange diagrams to the Government Naval Board. 
After persistent efforts he was successful in obtain- 
ing a guarantee of payment when the Monitor should 
demonstrate her ability to do all that was promised 
concerning her. 

The steam frigate Merrimac, scuttled and sunk at 
the burning of the Norfolk navy yard, was considered 
one of the finest ships in the American navy. She 
mounted forty guns and was estimated at four thou- 
sand tons burden. 

"This magnificent structure was raised by the 
Rebels and cut down, leaving only the hull, which was 
exceedingly massive and solid. Over this they con- 
structed a sloping shield of railroad iron, firmly plated 
together, and extending two feet under the water. 
Its appearance was much like the slanting roof of a 
house, set upon a ship's hull like an extinguisher, — 
the ends of the vessel fore and aft, projecting a few 
feet beyond this roof. The gun-deck was completely 
inclosed by this shield, and nothing appeared above it 



32 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

but a short smoke-stack and two flag-staffs. The 
weight of iron was so immense that the ship nearly 
broke her back in launching; but the fracture was 
repaired. The fact that such a formidable mailed 
battery was in preparation, was well known at the 
North, and her speedy appearance was daily predicted 
by the press." 

On Saturday the eighth of March, 1862 — the same 
day that Fremont fought (he battle of Pea Ridge — the 
Merrimac steamed into the mouth of the James River 
from Norfolk, headed towards our blockading fleet off 
Newport News. The old passenger steamers, the 
Jamestown and Yorktown, plying formerly between 
New York and Richmond, and now refitted into Con- 
federate war vessels, accompanied the Merrimac, and 
in her train came a retinue of armed tugs and other 
war craft. The frigates Cumberland and Congress, 
doing guard duty off Newport News, were anchored 
half a mile from shore as the Merrimac came in sight. 
Unmindful of the broadsides which the two frigates 
hurled against her iron sides, she steered straight for 
the Cumberland, and rushing upon her, struck her 
amidships, inflicting a death blow. Then, reversing 
her engine, she went back and making a second 
plunge, again struck the Cumberland in the same 
place, crushing through the whole side of the ship. 

At the same time the guns of the iron-clad demon 
thundered destruction through the decks of the ill- 
fated Cumberland, strewing her floors with the dead, 
wounded, and dying. But her brave crew under com- 
mand of Lieutenant George M. Morris, with a hero- 
ism which rose to the pitch of sublimity, still fought 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 33 

011, as long as a gun of the sinking ship remained 
unsubmerged. " One sailor with both his legs shot 
off, hobbled up to his gun on the bleeding stumps and 
pulling the lanyard, fired it, then fell hack dead." 

The heroic commander and the no less heroic crew 
proudly refused to lower the beloved stars and stripes 
to the flag of Rebellion, preferring to sink with the 
ship rather than surrender. Rapidly the noble Cum- 
berland went down, her guns thundering as she sank, 
the last shot being fired from her deck while the gun- 
ner who pulled the trigger stood knee-deep in water. 
After the frigate was engulfed, " a few feet of her top- 
masts rose above the wave, and there the stars and 
stripes still floated, victorious in death." " The sur- 
face of the water was now covered with fragments of 
the wreck, and with hundreds of men swimming 
towards the shore, while from all directions, boats 
were pushing out for their rescue. About one hun- 
dred of the dead and wounded went down with the 
ship. While this multitude of men were struggling 
in the water, the steam propeller " Whilldcn," then 
lying under the guns of Newport News, not half 
a mile off, Captain William Riggins commanding, in- 
stantly put off in the face of the resistless enemy and 
rescued a large number who would otherwise have 
been drowned. Probably her humane errand saved 
her from the destruction to which she was exposed, 
since the moment after she had picked up the last 
man, a shot from the Merrimac passed through her 
boiler, thus emphatically ordering her away." 

It had taken only three-quarters of an hour to dis- 
patch the Cumberland, and the destroying demon in 

4* 






84 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

mailed armor, made the Congress her next object of 
attention. 

That vessel being only partly maimed was grounded 
while endeavoring to escape from the fatal clutches of 
the Merrimac, who came on, resistless as doom. 

At a distance of about one hundred yards from the 
helpless Congress, the Merrimac discharged her ter- 
rible broadsides into the disabled ship, while the two 
Confederate gun-boats, the Jamestown and York- 
town rushed up on either side and added their rain of 
red-hot shot to that of the Merrimac. The dead and 
dying on the decks of the Congress were mingled 
in sickening confusion with dismantled guns and torn 
rigging. Her dry timbers took fire in three places, 
and, fanned by the fresh breeze, soon the billows of 
flame rolled above the billows of water. With her 
commanding officer killed and her wounded facing 
the prospect of death by the slow torture of burning, 
the Congress, at last, surrendered. But with horrible 
inhumanity, the Merrimac fired another broadside 
into her while the white flag was flying at her mast- 
head. 

The Congress burned until midnight when, the fire 
reaching her magazine, she exploded with a noise 
which shook the bay and sent the fiery fragments, 
like a thousand rockets, into the air. 

The two remaining frigates of the fleet, the St. 
Lawrence and the Minnesota, were next in order of 
attack, and, strangely enough, they were both aground. 
But the Minnesota sent a broadside from her heavy 
guns into the Merrimac, at short range, and it was 
thought that some of the shot, entering her port-holes, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. g7 

damaged lier machinery, as she did not proceed with 
the attack. 

Night was coming on and after some hesitation, the 
Merrimac steamed to her anchorage behind Craney 
Island. 

The darkness that settled over Hampton Roads 
that night was nothing to the darkness of despair 
which wrapped the hearts of the fleet in its pall of 
gloom. The garrison at Newport News and Fortress 
Monroe could be dispatched as easily as the Cumber- 
land had been, and even Washington might not be safe 
from the devastation which the Merrimac threatened. 
For no one knew whether she might not be able to 
ascend the Potomac. In an hour the strength of 
our navy and coast fortresses had crumbled before 
this single iron-clad — mistress of the high seas. 

As the disastrous news was flashed over the wires 
through the North, consternation filled all hearts. 
No one knew where the ravages thus begun would end. 
It did not seem improbable that this single vessel 
might solve the problem of the war in favor of slavery 
and the South as against Union and liberty. 

At about ten o'clock on that eventful Saturday 
night the anxious garrison at Fortress Monroe descried 
a singular looking craft approaching from the sea, 
towed by two small steamers. It re? mbled " nothing 
in the heavens above or the earth jeneath or in the 
waters under the earth." 

The raft proved to be the new Ericsson battery, the 
Monitor, in tow of the gunboats Sachem and Curri- 
tuck. Only twenty-four inches of hull were visible 
above the water, and the small, round, revolving tur- 



gg BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

ret nine feet high, in the center of the battery, mounted 
only two guns. Beside her big adversary, the little 
Monitor appeared very insignificant, both in size and 
armament — her two guns being pitted against the ten 
carried by the Merrimac. 

An eye witness gives the following vivid description 
of the scenes and emotions of that long-to-be-remem- 
bered Saturday night : — 

" That morrow ! How anxiously we waited for it ! 
how much we feared its results ! How anxious our 
Saturday eve of preparation ! At sundown there was 
nothing to dispute the empire of the seas with the 
Merrimac, and had a land attack been made by Ma- 
gruder then, God only knows what our fate would 
have been. The St. Lawrence and the Minnesota 
aground and helpless, the Koanoke with a broken 
shaft — these were our defenses by sea ; while on land 
we were doing all possible to resist a night invasion ; 
but who could hope that would have much efficiency ? 
Oh ! what a night that was ; that night I never can 
forget. There was no fear during its long hours — 
danger, I find, does not bring that — but there was a 
longing for some interposition of God and waiting up- 
on Him from whom we felt our help must come, in 
earnest, fervent prayer, while not neglecting all the 
means of martial defence He had placed in our hands. 
Fugitives from Newport News kept arriving ; ladies 
and children had walked the long ten miles from 
Newport News, feeling that their presence only em- 
barrassed their brave husbands. Sailors from the 
Congress and Cumberland came, one of them with his 
ship's flag bound about his waist, as he had swum with 






BATTLES FUR THE CM ON. 89 

it ashore, determined the enemy should never trail it 
in dishonor as a trophy. Dusky fugitives, the contra- 
bands came, mournfully fleeing from a fate worse than 
death — slavery. These entered my cabin hungry and 
weary, or passed it in long, sad procession. The 
heavens were aflame with the burning Congress. The 
hotel was crowded with fugitives, and private hospi- 
tality was taxed to the utmost. But there were no 
soldiers among the flying host ; all in our camps at 
Newport News and camp Hamilton were at the post 
of duty, undismayed, and ready fo do all and dare all 
for their country. The sailors came only to seek 
another chance at the enemy, since the bold Cumber- 
land had gone down in the deep waters, and the Con- 
gress had gone upward, as if a chariot of fire, to con- 
vey the manly souls whose bodies had perished in that 
conflict, upward to heaven. 1 had lost several friends 
there ; yet not lost, for they are saved who do their 
duty to their country and their God, as these had done. 
We did not pray in vain. 

" The heavy night hung dark the hills and waters o'er," 

but the night was not half so heavy as our hearts, nor 
so dark as our prospects. All at once a speck of light 
gleamed on the distant wave ; it moved ; it came 
nearer and nearer and at ten o'clock at night, the 
Monitor appeared. ' When the tale of bricks is doub- 
led, Moses comes.' I never more firmly believed in 
special providences than at that hour. Even skeptics 
were converted for the moment and said, ' God has 
sent her !' But how insignificant she looked ; she 
was but a speck on the dark blue sea at night, almost 



90 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

a laughable object by day. The enemy call her a 
cheese-box on a raft, and the comparison is a good 
one. Could she meet the Merrimac ? The morrow 
must determine, for under God, the Monitor is our 
only hope." 

Lieutenant J. L. Worden was in command of the 
Monitor, and reporting to the flag-ship Roanoke on 
his arrival at Fortress Monroe, received orders to lay 
by the Minnesota and guard her in case of a night 
attack. 

Sunday morning, March ninth, dawned brightly 
over the serene waters of the Chesapeake, and shortly 
after nine o'clock, the Merrimac with her retinue oi 
the previous day was seen approaching from the direc- 
tion of Sewall's Point. 

Instantly the Monitor put herself in fighting trim> 
the dead-light covers were put on, the iron hatches 
closed, and the officers took positions at their several 
posts. Lieutenant Green was in charge of the gum 
ners, and Chief Engineer Stimers controlled the move- 
ments of the revolving turret. 

The mammoth Merrimac confidently advanced and 
opened fire upon the Minnesota ; but before a second 
broadside could be delivered, the little Monitor steamed 
out from behind the grounded vessel, and when at a 
distance of about half a mile, the order to fire was 
given, "The gun was aimed, the huge, iron pendu- 
lum swung aside, the men sprang to the gun-ropes, a 
momentary creaking of pulleys was heard, then a 
thundering report and a solid ball weighing a hundred 
and seventy pounds, was hurled against the mailed 
side of the Merrimac. The Monitor had uttered her 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. Q\ 

maiden speech, and it was a challenge which no an- 
tagonist could venture to disregard." 

The Merrimac staggered under this unexpected 
blow and pausing in her attack on the Minnesota, 
turned her attention to the little Monitor. Immedi- 
ately, her ten terrible guns thundered their broadside 
against her diminutive antagonist, and when the 
smoke lifted and revealed the turret of the Monitor 
unharmed, and the stars and stripes still gaily floating 
aloft, the Merrimac rushed upon her to ride her down 
as she had done the Cumberland and Congress. But 
a different sort of craft grappled with her now and she 
found a foeman worthy of her steel. " Reserve your 
fire," said Lieutenant Worden to the gunners, "aim 
deliberately and do not lose a shot." The Merrimac 
struck the Monitor at full speed, but caused only a 
slight jar to the staunch little craft, as the iron prow 
of this mailed monster glided harmlessly over the 
nearly submerged hull of the Ericsson Battery. The 
Merrimac, however, received a severe gash as the 
sharp edge of the Monitor cut her coat of mail, and a 
bad leak was the result. 

The contest now waxed fierce and heavy as the two 
vessels, alternately receding and approaching, poured 
their volleys of shot into each other in rapid success 
sion, while the smoke of the terrible battle wrapped 
the actors in a dark and impenetrable cloud. With 
" muzzle to muzzle they hailed their heavy metal on 
each others sides." " Flash and thunder-roar burst 
forth incessantly from the tumultuous maelstrom of 
darkness, and solid balls weighing a hundred and 
seventy pounds, glancing from the armor, ricochetted 
over the water in all directions from one to two miles." 



92 BATTLES FOR TI1E UNION. 

For four long hours this terrible duel on -which the 
safety of a nation hung, continued, but when the 
smoke of battle lifted, it revealed the Monitor uninjured 
and triumphant, and the Merrimac pierced in three 
places, wounded unto death. Compelled to signal for 
help, she was taken in tow by two tugs who helped the 
crippled giant back to Norfolk. 

Just as the Merrimac was firing her last shot Lieu- 
tenant "Worden was struck prostrate by the concussion 
of a hundred-pound shot, which hit the grating just in 
front of his eyes, filling them with powder and minute 
fragments of iron, "When he " revived from the stun- 
ning blow he had received," his first question was, 
"Have I saved the Minnesota?" "Yes," was the 
reply, " and whipped the Merrimac." " Then," he 
rejoined, " I care not what becomes of me." 

When Lieutenant Wise visited the Monitor after the 
contest was ended, every thing was as serene on board 
the victorious craft as though nothing had happened. 
" One officer stood by the mirror leisurely combing his 
hair, another was washing some blood from his hands, 
while the gallant commander lay on a settee with his 
eyes bandaged, giving no signs of the pain that racked 
liim." 

Thousands of anxious spectators lined the shore 
from Newport News to Fortress Monroe, and from the 
Confederate fortifications across the James, watching 
with breathless interest the furious combat. " No 
tongue can tell the joy which thrilled the hearts of the 
National troops at the result. Cheer after cheer rose 
from the fleet and from the fortress, and rolled like 
reverberating thunder along the shores and over the 
bay." 



BATTLES FOR THE CXI OX. 93 

The Merrimac had rendered her last service. She 
never recovered from the fatal blows dealt her by the 
guns of the Monitor, and months of repair did not 
restore her usefulness. But the brave little Monitor 
came out of this trial of fire unscathed. Of all the 
twenty-two shot which had struck her in every part, 
only one had produced a noticeable indentation. 

This one, coming in contact with a huge iron beam, 
made a deflection in the beam of an inch and a half. 
A slight dent on the outside of the Monitor was the 
only evidence that the prow of the Merrimac had 
struck her in a vain attempt to ride her down. 

The Rebels published no official account of the losses 
on board the Merrimac in this encounter, but a state- 
ment was made in the Norfolk Day Book, estimating 
their loss at nine killed and eleven wounded. The 
statement, however, was contradicted by some other 
Southern journals. Two or three million dollars 
worth of property was lost to the Government with 
the Cumberland and Congress, to say nothing of the 
loss of life. 

Considering the fact that the construction of the 
Merrimac was known for months previous to her ap- 
pearance, and that an accurate description of her was 
said to have been sent the War and Navy Departments, 
by General Wool, three weeks before she left Norfolk, 
on her mission of destruction, the apathy of the Naval 
Board is something to be wondered at. But the dis- 
aster which might have overtaken the nation through 
their negligence was happily averted by the private 
enterprise which launched the Monitor. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ixriE-vvB E 



^^ 



The City and its Connections. — Rebel Fortifications. — Assemblage of 
Gunboats at Hatteras. — The Advance Down Pamlico Sound. — 
Slocum's Creek Landing. — The Long March. The Forest Camp 
Fires. — Attack on the Outer Fortifications. — Impetuous Bravery 
of Union Troops. — Heroic Charge Through an Embrasure. — The 
Old Flag Floats Over the Captured Fort. — Entrance into New- 
bern. Ten o'clock and All is Well. Battle of the Fleet. — Brilliant 
Advance of the Gunboats. — All Difficulties Conquered. — Victory 
and its Spoils.— The Sabbath Bells. 

"VTEWBERN is a city of about five thousand inhabit- 
Xi ants, situated at the confluence of the Ncuse and 
Trent rivers where the Neuse makes a broad estuary 
before entering Pamlico Sound. It is connected by 
rail with Goldsboro and Raleigh on the west, via North 
Carolina Rail Road, with Beaufort on the south, and is 
an important military post. The Confederates, appre- 
ciating this fact, had constructed in its defence fortifi- 
cations of such strength that they imagined the Union 
troops had but to come within range of their batteries to 
be doomed to certain destruction. In order to capture 
this city and to act in concerted movement with the 
Army of the Potomac, General Burnside on the twelfth 
of March, 1862, had collected a formidable fleet and 
army at Hatteras and ordered all to be in readiness 
to start that night at the appointed signal. He deliv- 
ered a brief and stirring address to the soldiers, ask- 



BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 95 

ing their best efforts in this perilous enterprise, and 
in his order, he said, 

" The General commanding, takes pleasure in an- 
nouncing that the Army of the Potomac under General 
McClellan, is now advancing upon Richmond and was 
at the latest dates occupying Centre ville, the enemy 
having evacuated all the advanced fortifications before 
Manassas, and those on the Potomac. He again calls 
upon his command for an important movement which 
will greatly demoralize the enemy and contribute much 
to the success of our brothers of the Potomac Army." 

From Hatteras the fleet sailed south-westward down 
Pamlico Sound, entered the mouth of the Neuse and 
anchored upon the western bank of that river, within 
a few miles of Newbern. The defences of Newbern 
unquestionably had been well planned and well built. 
A line of water batteries commanded the river and, 
reaching inland, connected with them, were field for- 
tifications to prevent the enemy from advancing by 
shore. Six miles down the river the guns of the lower 
fort threatened the daring intruder, and from that 
point back to the city there extended a continuous 
chain of forts and batteries. Near the city a fort 
mounting thirteen heavy guns and bomb proof, was so 
arranged as to command both the water and the only 
land approaches on that side. In fact, the entire area 
for several miles before the city, was filled with forts, 
earthworks, ditches, rifle pits, and all the other me- 
chanical appliances of warfare. 

On the morning of the thirteenth the troops were 
landed at a point called Slocum's Creek, sixteen miles 
below Newbern. Abbott gives the following descrip- 



Qg BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

tion of the landing : — " The barges proceeded in reg- 
ular battle array, regiment by regiment, towards the 
shore, every man ready to repel an assault, and the 
gunboats in the meantime shelling every spot in the 
vicinity where a foe might lurk. The men wading 
through the water held their muskets and ammunition 
under their arms to keep them dry. The barges 
grounded in the shoal water sixty yards from the 
shore. It was truly a picturesque scene, resembling a 
frolic rather than the dread realities of war, to see five 
thousand men with jokes and laughter and cheers, 
often up to their waists in water, and sometimes 
stumbling over some obstruction, all eager to see who 
would be the first to land. The ground was marshy ; 
it had rained violently through the night ; the path led 
through a fringe of forest draped in the funereal weeds 
of the Spanish moss. The wheels of the guns sank in 
the mire and were dragged along with much difficulty. 
A cold March wind swept over the drenched and shiv- 
ering ranks, and notwithstanding all the endeavors to 
keep up good cheer, the hours were dark and dreary. 
Much of this suffering might have been and should 
have been avoided. One of the vessels contained a 
floating bridge to secure the landing of the soldiers 
dry shod. But the eagerness to get to shore very un- 
wisely caused this precaution to be neglected or for- 
gotten." 

Until mid-day they marched along the marshy river 
banks without meeting the foe or any signs of one. 
At about that time however, they encountered some 
cavalry barracks, bearing evidence of very hasty leave- 
taking. Breakfasts, cooked, yet untasted, were left 



BATTLES FOR Tilt: UN I OX. 97 

behind, and all the evidences of very recent occupancy 
were strewn about. But the Federal forces, with a 
great struggle in anticipation, did not stop to satisfy 
any idle curiosity regarding the modus operandi of 
Rebel cookery. Steadily they pushed onward, filling 
the road in a dense column two and a half miles in 
length, — the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts leading the 
van, and the Eleventh Connecticut bringing up the 
rear. 

Suddenly, the order to halt and form in line of bat- 
tle brought the column to a stand. Directly in front 
of them stood a long line of breastworks and batteries. 
A deep ditch extended along the front, and the flanks 
were protected by an abattis of felled trees. But, as 
a reconnoitering party sent forward soon learned, the 
guns to this extensive fort were not yet mounted, and 
peacefully our troops entered it and took possession, 
raising the standard of Liberty upon its ramparts. 
But with a march of yet eight miles before them, and 
unknown difficulties to overcome, the Union troops, 
after halting a few moments, pressed bravely on. 
Many dropped by the wayside utterly overcome with 
fatigue, and unable to go one step farther. Others 
lost their shoes in the mire and went forward with 
torn and bleeding feet. A drizzling rain set in which 
kept the men drenched to the skin and added greatly 
to their discomfort. 

Night was swiftly approaching when a horseman 
from Newbern was arrested who communicated the 
news that Manassas was evacuated, and that McClel- 
lan was probably in hot pursuit after the retreating 
foe, and perhaps on his way to Richmond. At this 



98 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

joyful news, cheer after cheer broke from the lips of 
the men, and stimulated and alert they resumed their 
march. At six o'clock of that day the scouts came 
in, reporting a line of rebel fortifications a mile ahead. 
It was the beginning of a rainy twilight, and after the 
weary and toilsome day's march through the rain, 
wading oftentimes through mud knee deep, the order 
to "halt !" which now sounded through the ranks, was 
most welcome. They were in the midst of a forest 
of pine trees, and on either side of the road thousands 
of soldiers threw themselves on the ground for rest 
and sleep, with no shelter overhead save the pine trees 
and the clouds of a gloomy night. Some of them had 
lighted fires of the resinous pitch, and in every direc- 
tion the flames leapt gaily up while the red reflection 
fell athwart the recumbent forms and faces of the 
sleeping soldiery, lighting up the whole scene with a 
weird and picturesque beauty. 

Seven o'clock of the next morning found them, 
after having breakfasted, once more on the march 
towards Newbern. General Reno with the First Mas- 
sachusetts had the advance, and marched by the side 
of the railroad track which connects Newbern and 
Beaufort. Slowly along the river the gunboats 
steamed, keeping pace with the marching men on 
the shore. Says Abbott, in his history of the " Civil 
War," "upon turning a curve in the road, they came 
in sight of a train of cars which had just come down 
from Newbern with reinforcements for the Rebels. 
On a platform car in front of the engine, stood a rifled 
cannon in position to rake the road. The Massachu- 
setts men rushed forward at the double-quick at the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 99 

same time pouring in such a volley of bullets upon the 
foe that they abandoned everything and ran for the 
intrenchments. The troops were immediately de- 
ployed in line of battle through the woods, and im- 
petuously commenced an attack upon the formidable 
ramparts. The first cannon shot from the rebel bat- 
tery passed through the body of Lieut.-Colonel Henry 
Merritt, of the Massachusetts Twenty-third, and he 
fell instantly dead. The Tenth Connecticut under 
General Foster, a very gallant body of men, occupied 
the extreme left, and under the most discouraging cir- 
cumstances of position maintained the renown they 
had acquired at Roanoke. The whole line extended 
more than a mile. For an hour the battle raged in 
an uninterrupted storm of bullets and cannon balls 
from both sides, with no apparent advantage to either." 
A.s the battle waxed more and more fierce, our men 
approached to the very muzzles of the guns of the ene- 
my's breastworks, until Lieut.-Colonel Clark of the 
Twenty-first Massachusetts made a brilliant dash at 
the head of four companies, and rushed full tilt on the 
double-quick through one of the embrasures. 

The gunners, astonished at such daring, fled panic- 
stricken. The National flag was waved for one victo- 
rious moment over the heroic conquest, but as they 
were about to take the next gun, two rebel regiments 
swept down upon them and compelled them to retire. 
They were held at bay, however, only for a few brief 
moments, for in that time the Rhode Island Fourth 
came up and successfully assaulted the same spot, thus 
opening a door to victory through which their com- 
rades speedily followed. 

L.0FC. 



lOQ BATTLES FOR TI1E UNION: 

The charge of the Fourth Rhode Island led by 
Colonel Rodman, was said to be heroic. Directly 
fronting them a battery of five guns threatened anni- 
hilation, and in close proximity another battery of nine 
guns presented itself, protected behind, rifle pits. On 
the double-quick they charged directly upon the deadly 
muzzles of these five guns, firing as they ran, and 
rushing through the parapet, immediately formed in 
battle array and successfully charged upon the remain- 
ing and most formidable battery. Thus both batteries 
and two flags were captured. The Eighth and Elev- 
enth Connecticut and Fifth Rhode Island followed 
immediately in support, and the ranks of the enemy 
dissolved before their victorious entrance like banks 
of fog under sunbeam bayonets. 

Quickly the Union standard went up over the cap- 
tured works and then came a grand charge upon the 
enemy's left wing, by those still outside the breast- 
works. In utter confusion and headlong panic the 
Rebel foe was routed. With wild huzzahs the Union 
forces rushed over the ramparts discharging their fire- 
arms at the flying grey-coats, and almost immediately, 
over every bastion of the captured fort, the " old flag " 
flaunted its starry folds victoriously. Cheer after 
cheer rent the air from the exultant troops who had 
so heroically won the hard-fought and bloody field. 

Every regiment and company had behaved valiantly, 
— every man was a hero. The Fifty-first New York, 
leading the charge under General Reno, won a proud 
reputation for bravery and valorous daring. The 
Fifty-first Pennslyvania came under the heaviest fire 
without wavering. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. -jni 

Inside the battery the dead and the dying commin- 
gled in revolting confusion with mangled corpses, dis- 
mounted guns, broken muskets, and stores of all sorts, 
blood-stained and trampled in the mire. It was a 
sickening spectacle and one in awful contrast to the 
joyful exultation of the victors. 

But Burnside did not waste a moment of precious 
time in rejoicing over the spoils of victory but pressed 
on towards Newborn, taking advantage of the panic of 
the enemy. 

Our forces pushed rapidly forward, meeting none to 
contest their advance. By early afternoon they had 
reached the eastern bank of the Trent only to find the 
magnificent bridge which spanned the river in one vast 
sheet of flames, and on the opposite shore the city in 
seven different localities, broke forth in conflagration. 
Both the railroad and county road bridge were fired 
as also a number of cotton batteries. Fortunately, 
two small steamers were found, abandoned by the 
enemy, and with these General Foster's corps was 
ferried across the river and took possession of the 
nearly deserted city. The soldiers speedily extin- 
guished the fires, a provost marshal with a strong 
guard was appointed, and before nine o'clock at night 
order was restored, quietness reigned, and at ten 
o'clock the city and its inhabitants were wrapped in 
peaceful slumbers. It was a sleep which the exhausted 
soldiers needed. The colored population thinking 
their hour of jubilee had come, and freed from the re- 
straint which forbids a slave to be abroad on the street 
at night, wandered about the city until a late hour. 

On the fifteenth the Allowing special order was 
issued : 



1Q2 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

" Head-Quarters, Department of North Carolina, 
Newbern, March 15th, 1862. 
Special Orders No. 51. 

4th. Brigadier-General J. G. Foster is hereby appointed mili- 
tary governor of Newbern and its suburbs, and will be obeyed 
and respected accordingly. 

Brigadier-General J. G. Foster, military governor of Newbern 
will direct that the churches be opened at a suitable hour to- 
morrow in order that the chaplains of the different regiments 
may hold divine services in them. The bells will be rung as 

usual. 

****** 

By command of Brigadier-General 

A. E. BURNSIDE. 
Lewis Richmond, Assistant Adjutant General." 

General Burnside also, wisely enough, ordered 
every liquor cask in the city and camp to be staved. 

The part which the gunboats performed in this vic- 
tory was not small. Commander Rowan in charge of 
the fleet proved himself most efficient. 

The river was full of obstructions, the shore was 
bristling with batteries ; hut he conquered every diffi- 
culty. Led by the flag ship Delaware the fleet sailed 
away to win a golden fame. Fort Dixie, mounting 
four guns, was the first battery to contest their ad- 
vance, but it was soon silenced by Union shot and 
shell, and the triumphant battle-flags were planted 
upon its ramparts. Here the gunners caught sight of 
some Rebel cavalry in the woods behind the fort and 
sent over a warm salute of shells which dispersed 
them. The next battery encountered was Fort Thomp- 
son, mounting fifteen guns. This also was effectually 
silenced by our well-directed shot, its garrison scat- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. „- 

iered and once more the National standard waved 
defiant., over the eaptnred redan, The me „ " 
with enthusmsm, rent the air with their cheers 

Night came on after this conquest, and hostilities 
we., suspended until the next day. The morning of 

io Soon, however, ,t lifted and the battle of the 
fleet was once more in progress. 
Fort Brown, the next battery encountered, mounted 

ions'T;he eC cf Umb ; ad3 r d Pr ° teCted & ° ^ 
tions m the channels. In the right hand channel 

twenty- four vessels interlacing each other had been 

sunk wh,,e the left hand channel contained £££j 

e e c -'Tt m S T^"^' deSi?Ded t0 in, P a,e ^at 

were ll » T ?"* ^ at Which P™' »"» 
we,e placed a number of destructive torpedoes. 

These obstructions, covered by Fort Brown, were 
next m order, but Commander Rowan, nothing iZt 
ed ordered the boats to follow his lead, and tLy sue 
ceeded ln posing „ le impaling timbers ^ « g"£ 

alo a sit T Seri ° US inJUry - Si »^ -"'«'• 
also, a shot from one of the gun-boats entering the 

embrasure of the fort, struck one of the Columbian 

Meetly upon the muzzle, dashing it from its carr ge 

The gunners fled in panic and consternation. The 

aLed Wa a„dT di f *?**>> the N « "anner 
raised, and the whole fleet passed on to the capture of 
the next battery, Tort Ellis, mounting nine gnus 

ntl ff T rSed ReWs had 8 atllered f»a last de si 
perate effort and for a time the carnage went on 

fierce^ enough. But a shell from the gunboats ex 

ploded the magazine of the fort, and when the smoke 



104 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

lifted, none but the dead and the dying were there. 
The next battery, Fort Lane, was abandoned without 
firing a shot, and the brilliant passage was completed 
triumphantly, the fleet anchoring before the city just 
as the land troops entered it. 

In this grand advance of the gunboat fleet to New- 
born, the navy lost not a single man. 

One or two individual instances of the coolness and 
daring witli which our men passed through this maeU 
strom of war and death may be related. 

Lieutenant Fearing, of Burnside's staff, seated on 
his horse, was standing in conversation with a looker- 
on. A thirty-two pound shot whizzed between his 
horse's legs, causing scarcely a halt in the conversa- 
tion, the Lieutenant merely bending over to see that 
his horse was all right and making no allusion to the 
danger. 

At another time during the battle, when a handful 
of men made a heroic dash through an embrasure 
and two Rebel regiments charged down upon them, 
Captain J. D. Frazer from a severe wound in the 
right arm was compelled to drop his sword. But witli 
his left hand lie seized the fallen weapon, continued 
the fight, and endeavored to extricate himself from 
the surrounding enemy. Stumbling, he fell and was 
taken prisoner, a guard of three being placed over 
him. A few moments after, when the Fourth Rhode 
Island made their brilliant and successful charge, 
rescued at their hands, Captain Frazer in turn cap- 
tured the three Rebel guards placed over him and es- 
corted them to the Union ranks. 

In this victory our loss was eighty killed and two 
hundred and ninety wounded. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^Q5 

Six forts, thirty-four heavy guns, six steamboats, 
and two million dollars worth of public property were 
captured. The Rebel loss in killed and wounded was 
about the same as ours. The National sharp-shooters 
kept up such an accurate fire that the Confederate in- 
fantry after loading behind the ramparts, raised their 
guns over their heads and fired almost at random, thus 
throwing many of their bullets away. The capture of 
Newbern made the final reduction of Beaufort and 
Fort Macon sure, and also made Burnside commander 
of the Army of the Potomac. 



CHAPTER X. 

WINCHESTER. 

Topography of the Battle-Ground. — General Banks' Occupation of 
Winchester. — Stonewall Jackson's Attack. — Disposition of Forces. — 
The Battle. — Unwavering Firmness of Union Troops. — Heroic 
Defence of the National Colors by the Fifth Ohio. — " 'Tis sweet for 
One's Country to Die." — The Enemy put to Rout. — Stonewall 
Jackson in Retreat. — A Night of Sleep After a Day of Battle. — 
Kernstown. — Sheridan's Ride. 

IN one of the most beautiful and fertile portions of 
Virginia, lying between the Blue Ridge and North 
Mountains and extending from the head waters of the 
Shenandoah River near Staunton to its confluence 
with the blue Potomac, is situated the far-famed 
Valley of the Shenandoah. From Strasburg a spur 
of the mountain chain called the Massanutten range 
divides the valley southward for a distance of fifty 
miles and abruptly ends near Harrisburg. 

Strasburg commands the head of the western divi- 
si on which this range creates, and Front Royal the 
eastern, while Winchester, distant from Strasburg 
about twenty miles, holds the key, in a military sense, 
to the entire Valley. This ancient town, known in 
colonial times as Fort Loudon, is less than thirty 
miles from the Potomac River, and is a center, out 
of which well-made turnpikes diverge towards Rom- 
ney, Sheppardstown, Martinsburg, Charlestown, and 



BATTLES FOR THE UXIOiV. 107 

Berry ville, and also towards Centre villc through 
Battletown. 

On March twelfth, 1862, General Banks occupied 
Winchester with his advance force, Stonewall Jackson 
having abandoned the place on the same day. Jack- 
son marched towards Staunton in order to cover the 
operations of the Southern foe in that vicinity, and 
also to protect the road leading from this part of the 
Valley to Gordonsville, the main force of the Con- 
federates having retreated to that point. On the 
seventeenth of March, General Shields left Winchester 
with his command to pursue the enemy towards Stras- 
burg, but returned on the twentieth, having been 
overtaken by the enemy near Middletown, between 
whom and the Union troops a sharply contested 
skirmish took place. The division of General Wil- 
liams — one half of Banks's command — moved towards 
Battletown at the same time that the reconnoitering 
party under Shields returned to Winchester. 

Supposing the whole army of Banks was marching 
to re-inf orce McClellan, Stonewall Jackson determined 
to attack our forces at Winchester, to prevent if pos- 
sible the expected movement. Accordingly, by forced 
marches from Mount Jackson, forty-five miles below 
Winchester, he reached Strasburg and from thence 
advanced to the little village of Kernstown, within 
three miles of Winchester. This was on Saturday the 
twenty-second, and at half past two on the afternoon 
of that day the Rebel advance appeared in front of the 
Union pickets. 

Jackson had with him four regiments of infantry, 
assisted by Ashby's cavalry, which was discovered to 



108 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

be steadily advancing in the woods on both sides of 
the Strasburg turnpike, where the Eleventh Indiana 
was also picketed. The Union troops then fell back, 
pursued by the Rebel cavalry, and occasionally facing 
about to fire upon the enemy. General Shields, in 
command of the division, ordered four companies of 
infantry and a battery of artillery to the support of 
the Fourteenth Indiana until his force could be brought 
forward and formed in line of battle. While direct- 
ing the battery, Shields received a wound in the arm 
from a splinter of a shell, but remained on the field 
until dark, when the troops began to arrive. Both 
armies bivouacked for the night, the enemy not seem- 
ing anxious to press the engagement. To General 
Shields, awaiting the return of Williams' troops to 
reenforce him, this suspension of hostilities was not 
unwelcome. But Williams did not arrive on the battle- 
field until after the action had commenced, on the 
next day. 

At eight o'clock on the morning of the twenty- 
third, the enemy opened the conflict with four guns, 
receiving a reply of six guns from the Union troops, 
after which reinforcements for both batteries came 
up. The fire from the enemy's guns was so well 
directed and so effective that the Union general com- 
manding determined to take the battery by storm ; for 
which purpose the infantry columns of the First and 
Second brigades were massed for an attack upon the 
enemy's left. The brigade of Kimball was on the 
right, that of Tyler in the center and Sullivan on the 
left, with General Kimball in command of the entire 
force — General Shields being disabled on account of 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 1Q9 

the wound received the day before. The enemy's 
center was a little to the left of the turnpike at 
Kernstown village, his left wing extending a mile and 
three-quarters west of the road, and his right wing 
one mile to the east of it. A mud road branches from 
the turnpike at this point and runs to the right over 
Cedar creek. Here the enemy's left center was 
placed, beyond which was a grove of trees, and farther 
yet a ridge of hills crowned by a stone wall, breast 
high. General Tyler moved his column on the mud 
road until within two hundred yards of the stone wall, 
when he received a murderous fire. But bravely and 
without wavering the Union troops rushed forward 
until within fifteen yards of the stone wall barricade, 
when the order to fire was obeyed with such vigor 
that the enemy fell back across the fields in conster- 
nation, unmasking in their retreat two six-pound 
guns. The cannister from these guns made great 
gaps in the Union lines but did not check the brave 
advance of our heroic men, though death faced them. 
One gun was captured with its caisson, but almost 
immediately two more brass pieces were unmasked 
by the enemy and were so destructive that our troops, 
forced to give way, upset the captured gun and left it. 
At this point in the conflict, the Fifth Ohio and Eighty- 
fourth Pennsylvania formed in line of battle and 
charged with the bayonet. It was a terrific encounter, 
and in its maelstrom of blood and death, the Fifth Ohio 
Regiment five times within the space of a few minutes 
lost its color-bearer. When the first standard-bearer 
sank to the soil, a sacrifice to the enemy's bullets, 

another brave soldier rushed forward, caught up the 

5* 



HO BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

starry banner of liberty and unfurled its folds tri- 
umphantly to the breeze. Scarcely had his hand 
grasped the staff of the old flag when he, too, fell in 
the sacred cause. A third and a fourth and a fifth 
one shared the same fate, heroically rushing to this 
ill-fated post of death. And thus at such terrible cost 
of life the old flag was kept floating victoriously. But 
now, the struggling troops so desperately engaged 
were to have help from their comrades in arms. The 
Fourteenth and One Hundred and Tenth Indiana Regi- 
ments advanced at the quick to support them, and the 
enemy fell back leaving the captured gun behind. 
Now, however, at seven o'clock in the afternoon, the 
firing gradually lessened and the enemy retreated, — 
our pursuing cavalry capturing about two hundred 
prisoners. 

That night the Union troops slept upon the field of 
their victory and in the morning went in pursuit of 
the enemy. But the routed Rebels would not fight, 
and retired on being attacked by our troops. The 
Union forces in consequence, rejoined the command 
of Banks, who arrived from Harper's Ferry at nine 
o'clock on the morning of the twenty-fourth. 

Thus ended the battle of Winchester, made doubly 
famous by the defeat of Stonewall Jackson and as the 
historic ground from which afterwards, in 1864, Phil 
Sheridan, on his black charger, performed that glori- 
ous ride to Cedar Creek, afterwards immortalized by 
T. Buchanan Read, by which he reversed the tide of 
battle and made 'dark defeat' become a 'glorious 
victory,' 

******* "because 
The sight of the master compelled it to pause." 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. \\\ 

The Union loss in this battle, to which Southern 
chroniclers give the name of Kernstown, was one 
hundred and thirty-two killed, five hundred and forty 
wounded, and forty-six missing. The loss of the 
enemy was estimated to be nine hundred, of whom 
two hundred and thirty-six were prisoners. Two guns 
and four caissons were also captured. 

The enemy had been reenforced at ten o'clock Sun- 
day morning by General Garnett, and claimed a force 
of six thousand, half of which only was engaged. 
The command of General Shields numbered eight 
thousand. 



CHAPTER XI. 

DF^-HLilMIOTJ'ra lEI EI I GUESTS. 

General McDowell in Command of the Army of Virginia. — Advance 
to Bristoe and Falmouth. — Harris Light Leading the Advance. — 
Sudden Fire on the Van-guard. — Furious Charge upon the Rebel 
Cavalry. — Death of Lieutenant Decker. — His Comrades Avenge 
His Death.— The Enemy Scattered Like Chaff Before the Whirl- 
wind. — Outposts, Stores and Provisions Captured. — A Loyal 
Southern Citizen Greets the Old Flag. — Plan for a Night Attack 
on Falmouth. — Brilliant Capture of the Place by Kilpatrick. 

WHEN the Army of the Potomac was transferred 
to the Peninsula in the Spring of 1862, the troops 
left in front of Washington were denominated the 
Army of Virginia. General McDowell commanding 
this force advanced to Bristoe in the early part of 
April, and on the seventeenth of that month, detaching 
General Auger with a brigade of Infantry and two 
regiments of Cavalry, directed him to proceed to Fal- 
mouth, a small village on the Rappahannock, opposite 
the City of Fredericksburg, with instructions to oc- 
cupy the latter place if possible. 

The author's regiment, the Harris Light Cavalry, 
had the advance and was followed by the Fourteenth 
Brooklyn. As our Infantry comrades became foot- 
sore and fatigued, we exchanged positions with them 
for mutual relief until at last one-half of the two reg- 
iments were bearing each others' burdens. This inci- 



BATTLES FOR TJ1E UN J ON: ^3 

dent paved the way for a strong friendship between 
the Harris Light and Fourteenth Brooklyn. I cannot 
call to mind in the course of my military experience, 
a more novel sight than that of those gallant Brook- 
lyn boys mounted upon our horses, while we marched 
by their side carrying their muskets ; they amusing 
us with their knowledge of horsemanship and we es- 
saying to show them that we were not wholly ignor- 
ant of the evolutions of infantry. 

Seventeen miles were quietly traveled when a sud- 
den fire on our advance-guard brought every cavalry 
man to his horse and infantry man to his musket. 
Everything assumed the signs of a fight. Kilpatrick, 
who was in command of the regiment, ordered his 
band to the rear. This precaution of the commander 
was no sooner taken than the van-guard in command 
•of Lieutenant George Decker made a furious charge 
upon Field's Cavalry which was doing outpost duty ten 
miles from Falmouth. 

On the very first assult Lieutenant Decker fell from 
his horse, pierced through the heart with a fatal bul- 
let. The fall of this gallant young officer was much 
lamented by his associates of the Harris Light. His 
death, however, shocking as it was to the command, 
only seemed to nerve the men for bold revenge. Like 
chaff before the whirlwind the outpost was quickly 
scattered, and the whole regiment entered upon its 
first charge with a will, — a charge which continued 
for several miles with wild excitement. Picket re- 
liefs and reserves were swept away like forest trees 
before the avalanche, and we fell upon their encamp- 
ment before time had been afforded them for escape. 



H4 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Here we captured several men and horses with large 
quantities of stores, and then rested our tired steeds 
and fed them with Confederate forage. The men en- 
joyed the captured rations. It was nearly night, and 
as the sun disappeared the infantry force came up to 
our newly-possessed territory. 

The cavalry was ordered to " stand to horse " and 
a strong picket was thrown out to prevent any sur- 
prise attack or flanking movement of the enemy. In 
the early part of the evening one of our pickets was 
surprised by the friendly approach of a citizen of 
Falmouth who had come, as he said, to " hail once 
more the ' old star-spangled banner ' and to greet his 
loyal brethren of the North." 

Such a patriotic and fearless individual among the 
white population of that section of country was a 
great rarity and his protestations of friendship were 
at first received with some suspicion. He was, how- 
ever, brought to General Auger's headquarters, where 
he gave satisfactory proof of his kind intentions, and 
then gave the General a full description of the posi- 
tion and strength of the enemy. 

A plan for a night attack was thereupon laid and 
committed to Bayard and Kilpatrick. 

Our instructions were conveyed to us in a whisper. 
A beautiful moonlight fell upon the scene which was 
as still as death ; and with a proud determination 
the two young cavalry chieftains moved forward to 
the night's fray. Bayard was to attack on the main 
road in front, but not until Kilpatrick had commenced 
operations on their right flank by a detour through a 
neglected and narrow wood-path. As the Heights 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. \y{ 

were considered well nigh impregnable it was neces- 
sary to resort to some stratagem, for which Kilpatrick 
showed a becoming aptness. 

Having approached to within hearing distance of 
the Rebel pickets, but before we were challenged, Kil- 
patrick shouted with his clear voice, which sounded 
like a trumpet on the still night air : 

" Bring up your artillery in the centre and infantry 
on the left !" 

"Well, but, Colonel," replied an honest though 
rather obtuse captain, " we haven't got any inf — ." 

" Silence in the ranks !" commanded the leader. 
" Artillery in the centre, infantry on the left !" 

The pickets caught and spread the alarm, and thus 
greatly facilitated our hazardous enterprise. 

" Charge !" was the order which then thrilled the 
ranks, and echoed through the dark dismal woods, 
and the column swept up the rugged Heights in the 
midst of blazing cannon and rattling musketry. So 
steep was the ascent that not a few saddles slipped off 
the horses, precipitating their riders into a creek 
which flowed lazily at the base of the hill, while oth- 
ers fell dead and dying struck by the missiles of de- 
struction which at times filled the air. But our first 
field was won ; and the enemy driven at the point of 
the sabre, fled unceremoniously down the Heights, 
through Falmouth, and over the bridge which spanned 
the Rappahannock, burning the beautiful structure 
behind them to prevent pursuit. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PITTSBURG Xj^L-lSTIDIlSrO. 

The Log Cabin Church. — Buell's March from Nashville. — The Union 
Camp Surprised. — The Rude Awakening. — Sleep Exchanged for 
Death. — Rally of the Boys in Blue. — Slaughter from the Woods. — 
Stand on the Corinth Road. — The Brave Resistance. — The Wave 
of Rebellion Hurled Back. — Six Hours of Magnificent Fighting. — 
A Glorious Record. — Wallace Falls. — The Impregnable Line. — 
Tyler and Lexington Gunboats. — Death of Confederate Johnston. — 
Buell Reaches the Landing. — Last Day's Fight. — Capture of Field 
Peices. — Confederates in Retreat. — Splendid Victory. — Harvest of 
Death. 

A small log cabin named Shiloh Church, on the 
western bank of the Tennessee River, about twenty- 
miles north of Corinth, Mississippi, divides with Pitts- 
burg Landing the honor of transmitting its name to 
the bloody engagement fought here, April sixth, 1862. 
Early in March this movement up the Tennessee 
was projected, and Major-General C. F. Smith, with 
his command, occupied Savannah on the eleventh. 
Savannah is ten miles above Pittsburg Landing and 
consequently about thirty miles from Corinth. For 
strategic reasons General Smith removed his troops 
to Pittsburg Landing— a movement which General 
Grant approved, on his arrival there the latter 
part of March. It was designed to make the 
Tennessee River a base of operations and cut off 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 219 

communication between West Tennessee and the 
Eastern and Southern States. General Buell at 
Nashville with the Army of the Ohio, was directed to 
co-operate with Grant in the expected movement. 
This being suspected by the Rebels, they determined 
to attack Grant at Pittsburg Landing before he could 
be re-inforced by Buell. Beauregard held a strong 
force at Corinth to which were added the two divis- 
ions under General Polk from Columbus, and the 
corps of General Bragg from Pensacola. 

General Albert Sidney Johnston, chief in command 
at Corinth, on April third issued an address to his 
army, and an order, dividing it into three corps, — the 
first under General Polk, the second under Bragg and 
the third under Hardee; while General Crittenden 
was assigned to a reserve consisting of two brigades. 
Of this force, numbering about fifty thousand men, 
General Johnston was chief and Beauregard second 
in command. On April fifth, the army of West 
Tennessee, under General Grant at Pittsburg Land- 
ing, comprised five divisions — Major-General Mc- 
Clernand, Brigadier-General W. H. L.' Wallace, Ma- 
jor-General Lewis Wallace, Brigadier-General Hurl- 
but and Brigadier-General W. T. Sherman command- 
ing respectively. 

The division of General Lew Wallace was six miles 
below Pittsburg Landing at a place known as Crump's 
Landing, while the rest of the Union forces remained 
in the vicinity of the Shiloh log church. 

Twenty miles away, BuelPs forces were slowly ap- 
proaching, the condition of the roads greatly impeding 
their progress. In hourly expectation of their ar- 



120 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 1 

rival, the army on the west bank of the Tennessee 
awaited them. Occupying the ground between Owl 
Creek and Lick Creek — two streams which run at 
right angles to the Tennessee, three miles apart — the 
Union command was arranged as follows : Sherman's 
division held the extreme right, resting on Owl Creek, 
about three miles from the Landing, McClernand's 
division was next, the sub-division of McClernand's 
command under Prentiss, came next on the left, rest- 
ing on Lick Creek, three miles from the Tennessee, 
while the division of W. H. L. Wallace acted as a 
support to Sherman and McClernand, and Hurlbut 
supported the left wing under Prentiss. In addition 
to this force, several gun-boats, among which were the 
Tyler and Lexington, were anchored otf the Landing 
ready to assist with their broadsides of shot and shell, 
whenever the tide of battle called them into action. 

On the morning of the third, Johnston's troops 
were marching from Corinth towards the Tennessee, 
but did not reach the neighborhood of the Federal posi- 
tion until the evening of the fifth. The Confederate 
force was formed in three parallel lines wih an interval 
of eight hundred yards between the first and second 
line, the corps of Polk forming the third line in col- 
umns of brigades. Breckenridge held the reserves, 
and batteries were placed in the rear of each brigade. 
General Hardee commanded the first line which ex- 
tended from Owl Creek on the left, to Lick Creek on 
the right: Bragg was in command of the second line. 

At six o'clock on the morning of the sixth, the 
Confederate advance suddenly drove in the pickets of 
Prentiss' corps. The Union oamp, not yet awakened 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^21 

from sleep, was surprised by the enemy who rushed 
upon them firing as they came and charging with the 
bayonet. Then ensued a scene of panic and heart- 
rending confusion. Union soldiers rushed from their 
tents, weaponless, hatless and coatless, towards the 
river, and many were shot dead on the way ; others 
quietly exchanged the rosy sleep of life for the pallid 
repose of death, pierced with a fatal bullet before their 
eyes unclosed to behold the dawn. Others, it is said, 
surrendered only to be shot on the spot. Officers 
wounded and left for dead in their tents, were found 
two days afterwards, yet alive to tell the sickening 
tale, though suffering untold agonies. The sub-divi- 
sion of Prentiss and Hildebrand's brigade of Sher- 
man's division were thus driven by the enemy, but the 
remainder of Sherman's division sprang to their arms 
and formed in line barely in time to receive the ad- 
vancing legions of the Confederates and partially 
check their terrible onset. This movement enabled 
them to retire to a ridge in their rear — the key-point 
of the Landing — where by their firmness they repelled 
every attempt of the enemy to turn their flank. By 
this time the whole army was aroused to the peril of 
the attack, and McClernand soon formed his right to 
sustain Sherman. The corps of Prentiss was partially 
rallied in an open space surrounded by scrub oaks, 
from which the Confederates concealed there, slaugh- 
tered them without mercy. General Prentiss with two 
entire regiments were taken prisoners and the sub- 
division was disorganized. The division of W. H. L. 
Wallace now pressed forward to support Stuart of 
Sherman's division, but lost its way and was repulsed. 



122 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

McClernand was compelled to withdraw liis brigades 
in support of Sherman, in order to protect his left 
against a furious charge by the enemy. Two new 
regiments, the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa, were 
brought into action, but the heavy firing proved too 
much for these raw troops and they gave way in con- 
fusion. Our batteries were placed in position along 
the Corinth road, and the division changed front so as 
to face on that highway. They defended it handsomely 
until ten o'clock, but at that time the enemy rushed 
through the gap between the lines of McClernand and 
Sherman, with the evident intention of turning Mc- 
Clernand's right. Dresser's Battery of rifled guns 
dealt them terrible slaughter as they passed, but their 
great numbers and the constant arrival of fresh troops 
overwhelmed McClernand's division until at last our 
forces began to fall slowly back, fighting bravely with 
well ordered resistance as they retired. An occasional 
rally and repulse of the enemy varied the order of 
their retreat. Our batteries were broken and several 
guns lost, and the disorganized brigades and divisions 
fell to the rear. In some instances patched-up reg- 
iments were brought to the front. 

The left and center of our line on the Corinth road 
had been shattered, and at twelve o'clock none but 
the forces of Hurlbut, Wallace, and Sherman stood 
between our army and destruction. 

Major General Lew Wallace was to flank the enemy 
in case of an attack, by marching across from Crump's 
Landing, but, directed by a circuitous route, he did 
not arrive on the battle-field until the fight for the day 
was ended. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. J23 

The commands of Hurlbut and Wallace meanwhile 
sustained with perfect firmness the mad onsets of the 
enemy. Their overwhelming numbers, like a vast, 
living wave, swept against the solid columns of our 
troops only to fall back with repulse and slaughter. 
It was the sea of Rebellion dashing against the rocks 
of Union and Liberty. Thrice did the fresh troops of 
the enemy hurl themselves against our jaded and 
exhausted boys only to be thrice sent back in dismay 
and death. 

The wave broke at our feet but did not engulf us. 
The skill of the enemy was something to be admired. 
Again and again a rush on our lines failed, but as 
quickly as the enemy's forces were hurled back, their 
broken divisions were taken to the rear and new attack- 
ing lines formed of fresh troops. For six hours was 
this unequal contest waged. For six hours did those 
noble men face the foe with heroic resistance. 

Into those six hours was crowded a record of mag- 
nificent fighting, than which there could be none 
braver or more glorious. 

Oh, patriots true ! with brows now crowned with 
the victor's laurels, we thank you for revealing to us 
such sublime heights of human nature ! 

At last, retreat was imperative, and the two divi- 
sions of W. H. L. Wallace and Hurlbut fell back to 
within half a mile of the Landing. At this fatal mo- 
ment the brave Wallace fell, and was borne from this 
field of glory and of death. It was now four o'clock 
in the afternoon, and exhausted by ten hours of almost 
continuous fighting, there was a lull in the storm of 
battle. 



124 BATTLES FOR THE UNION- 

General Grant made good use of this opportunity. 
A new line was formed on the right by Sherman, 
which was prolonged to the left by re-formed brigades 
and regiments from the remaining divisions of the 
army, while Colonel Webster, Grant's Chief of Artil- 
lery, arranged the remaining batteries in a semicircle 
on the left, in order to pour a concentrated fire upon 
the enemy, massing in this direction. The Tyler 
and Lexington gunboats moved up to the mouth of Lick 
Creek and brought their guns within range of the 
enemy, a half mile away. 

The intelligence that Nelson's division, constituting 
the advance of Buell, had reached the eastern bank of 
the Tennesee and would soon cross to their assistance, 
greatly cheered our exhausted troops. " Suddenly, at 
about five o'clock the enemy burst upon the Union left 
only to be swept down by steady volleys of musketry 
and the withering fire of the batteries. To* add to 
their consternation the huge guns of the Tyler and 
Lexington ploughed into their ranks. 

"Again and again did the Rebels attempt to break 
through the circle of fire within which the Union army 
stood at bay. The position seemed impregnable. 
Disappointed and disheartened they at length retired 
at nightfall, and the battle for the day was over." 
Sometime before this, General Grant had issued orders 
to his division commanders to prepare to assume the 
offensive at an early hour in the morning. • 

During the battle of that day, the Confederate Gen- 
eral Albert Sidney Johnston was killed, his death 
resulting from a small wound under the knee, which 
severed an artery. He was in his saddle, when one 



BATTLES FOR TilE UNION. j 9 c 

of his aids, observing his blood stained uniform in- 
quired if he was wounded. " Only a scratch," the 
General replied, but the next moment he reeled in his 
seat and fell dying into the arms of his officers. 

His boot was filled with blood and the life current still 
ebbed rapidly away from the mortal hurt. Johnston's 
exhausted troops slept that night on their arms, and 
Beauregard, now in command, established his head- 
quarters at Shiloh church, hoping some delay would pre- 
vent the arrival of Buell, who, he knew, was on the march 
for the scene of battle. Our gunboats bombarded the 
Rebel forces during the night, compelling them to re- 
tire a short distance from their position. In the midst 
of a drenching rain-storm which set in during the 
night, General Buell arrived. He had reached Savan- 
nah on the evening of the fifth, General Nelson lead- 
ing the advance. Firing being heard from the direc- 
tion of the Landing on the morning of the sixth, Buell 
ordered the division in the rear to leave their trains 
and hurry forward. 

Nelson's command was marched to the Tennessee 
opposite Pittsburg Landing, their guns were ordered 
to be carried by steamboat, and late on the sixth, Buell 
himself arrived on the eastern bank of the Tennessee. 
During that night, through the rain and darkness, 
Nelson's division crossed the river and occupied the 
left of the Union line. The commands of General T. 
L. Crittenden and McCook quickly followed, and 
were posted on the left-center and center, the veterans 
of the sixth occupying the right-center and right. 
General Lew Wallace having arrived with his com- 
mand on the night of the sixth, held the extreme right. 



126 BATTLES FOR TIIE UNION. 

The battle of the seventh was opened by Wallace. 
Some Rebel batteries directly in his front were shelled, 
and under cover of this fire the right wing advanced 
some distance. Wallace at one time was obliged to 
send to Sherman for aid, but at last the Rebels were 
pushed back and obliged to retire from the hotly con- 
tested ground. 

On the left, Nelson's division advanced so rapidly 
as to expose its right flank and was forced to retire 
until Boyle's Brigade of Crittenden's division re-in- 
forced him. With this addition to his force, Nelson 
once more advanced, driving the enemy, capturing his 
batteries and taking possession of an eminence in the 
extreme front. Between eight and nine o'clock, he 
encountered a well-supported battery of the enemy. 
Smith's brigade — between Crittenden's left and Nel- 
son's flank — dashed forward and for a short time the 
battle was hot and close and the discharge of musketry 
furious ; but the enemy fled and our boys captured 
three field pieces — a twelve pound howitzer and two 
brass six-pounders. Around these guns the roar of 
battle surged with terrific force. Then came a solid 
line of Rebel infantry sweeping up to the captured 
battery. The commands of Nelson and Crittenden 
caught its full force and partially fell back, but taking 
a fresh stand, faced the enemy and held their ground. 
The batteries of Mendenhall and Bartlett now began 
shelling the Confederate ranks, which obliged the en- 
emy to fall back. 

" A gallant charge secured the contested battery 
while the Rebels retreated towards the left. Smith 
and Boyle, holding the infantry well in hand, Menden- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 19 ~ 

hall again got their range and poured in shot and shell 
on the new position. The enemy's line now commenced 
a retrograde movement, which both Nelson and Crit- 
tenden vigorously pushed. The brigade of Wood ar- 
rived soon after and joined in the pursuit, and the 
left was safe." 

The center, meantime, under McCook, had driven 
the enemy to the woods after a sharp fight. 

About two o'clock in the afternoon, upon the ar- 
rival of Buell's fresh troops, the Confederates com- 
menced a general retreat. A stand was made by 
them at the distance of eight hundred yards and 
their artillery was opened upon us ; but Crittenden 
drove them and captured a battery. On the succeed- 
ing day General Sherman pursued the retreating col- 
umns of the enemy, capturing a Rebel cavalry camp 
and a quantity of ammunition ; but owing to almost 
impassable roads, our pursuit soon terminated. Cloth- 
ing, accoutrements and small arms marked the course 
of the flying Rebels. 

Beauregard placed his loss at one thousand, seven 
hundred and twenty-eight killed, eight thousand and 
twelve wounded, and nine hundred and fifty-nine 
missing. The Union loss was one thousand six hun- 
dred and fourteen killed, seven thousand seven hun- 
dred and twenty-one wounded, and three thousand 
nine hundred and sixty-three missing. 

On the ninth, Beauregard sent a flag to General 
<*rant asking permission to bury their dead, but 
Orrant replied that the dead of both armies were al- 
ready buried. This Golgotha received the woful num- 
ber of three thousand three hundred and forty-two. 



] _ ; BATTLES FOB THE 7 

.. General Sherman published a voIul 

—Indicating Grant's management of the 

battle of h. General Grant in turn, speak 

the highest term a fS - 

stat: . si - individual efforts he was in- 

1 for the success of that ba~ 
Thus another field of renown was added to th ■: 
opidlj increased during those years, where valor 
won deathless laurels, and principle was reckoned 
■ 

Peacefully the Tennessee fl i its -junks 

onward to the ocean, nor : the bloody 

struggle on its I - en grain ri- 

pens in the sun. and the red furrow of war is sup- 
planted by the plowshares of peace. To :he child 
born within the shadow of this battle-field, who listens 
wonderingly to a recital of the deeds of this day. the 
heroes of Shiloh will, mayhap, appear like the dim 
. res of a dream, shadowy and unreal, but the re- 
sults they helped to bring about are the 
pec; life, the dust he treads is the sacred soil from 
which sprang the flowers of freedom, and the institu- 
tions for which these men died, make his roof safe 
over his head. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Williamsburg, the scene of one of the most 

U sanguinary strngg.es of the Penins^cZ^f 

was for Kars the geat rf P o»- 

he most nnportant town in the eolonial history of 
Virguna Captain John Smith laid the foundation 
of Jamestown in the year 1607 ; and this was for 
more than eighty years the eenter of inflnenee and 
anthonty in the colony. But in lfi07,i!T , 

officers nf *l,„ Ml the P™icipal 

orticers of the government removed to WilliamsbuL 
»'h.eh ,s fonr miles from Jamestown "" amsbui S> 

m 2i JameSt0 ™' once a »d forever famous as a land- 

mark .„ the early annals of American historv no h- 

-g now remains hut the tower of an encien/'chmch 

d its broken walls which cast their shadows over 

the Obi D many ° f t^^g^edpionZ 

he apha rf:'"™; WilIiam *ur g was chosen as 

lie capital of the colony on account of the greater 

healthfhlness of the climate. Some of the mSt Z 



230 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

teresting monuments of the State are to be found 
bate ; among them the College of William and Mary. 
This institution was founded by King William and 
his Queen Mary, and endowed by them with a thous- 
and acres of land, with duties on fur and skins, and 
one penny per pound on all tobacco exported from 
Maryland and Virginia. The fame of this college is 
augmented by the fact that many of the most dis- 
tinguished of Virginia's sons, including Washington, 
Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Madison, received their 
educational training within its walls. The college it- 
self and several antiquated monuments which stand 
adjacent, together with residences of the olden style 
give to Williamsburg a decided English aspect. On a 
beautiful square fronting the college may be seen the 
statue of Lord Botetourts, one of the colonial gover- 
nors ; and though considerably mutilated, may still 
be regarded an excellent specimen of sculpture. He 
appears in the flowing robe of his time, with the ap- 
pendage of a short sword hanging at his side. The 
inscription cut in bold quaint letters on the pedestal 
of the monument reads : 

"The Right Honorable Norborne Berkley Baron de Bote- 
tourts, His Majesty's late Lieutenant and Governor-General of 
the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. Deeply impressed with 
the warmest sense of gratitude for his excellences, prudent and 
wise administration, and that the remembrance of those many 
public and social virtues,which so eminently adorned his illus- 
trious character, might be transmitted to posterity, the General 
Assembly of Virginia on the twentieth day of July, Anno 
Domini, 1771, resolved, with one united voice, to erect this 
statue to his Lordship's memory. Let wisdom and justice pre- 
side in any country and the people must and will be happy." 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^3^ 

The old capitol in which Patrick Henry started in 
his brilliant career as the great and unrivalled orator 
of Virginia, has crumbled to the dust, and nothing 
save a few scattered bricks is left to mark the spot 
whereon it stood. It was in the halls of this same 
building that Washington was complimented by the 
speaker of the House of Burgesses after the close of 
his distinguished career in the French and Indian 
war. The hero was lauded for his valor and for the 
honor which he had conferred upon his native State. 
Stammering and bewildered the young colonel stood 
in the presence of the venerable aristocracy and was 
greatly relieved by the timely command of the speaker, 
" Sit down Colonel Washington ; your modesty is 
equal to your valour and that surpasses the power of 
any language that I possess." 

In the year 1736 the first newspaper published in 
Virginia was issued at Williamsburg. It was a sheet 
twelve inches long by six inches wide, and its dawn 
was regarded as an important event in the journalism 
of the day. The publication of this primitive sheet 
was continued until swallowed up in the Revolution, 
which it helped to inaugurate by espousing the cause 
of the patriots. 

I regret to learn from history that public schools 
and printing presses were looked upon with suspicion 
and jealously by the early authorities of Virginia. 
Sir William Berkley, at one time honored with the 
title and clothed with the dignity of Governor, by 
His Majesty King George III., thanked God that there 
were no more free schools or printing presses within 
the limits of his rule and hoped that these should not be 



132 BATTLES FOR TIIE UNION. 

known for a hundred years to come, and in accordance 
with his real or pretended fancies, put down the first 
printing press established in Virginia in 1682. Prom- 
inent among the interesting monuments of the past, 
is the old English Church and its adjoining grave- 
yard where rests the bones of many of the gover- 
nors, judges and military heroes who are distinguished 
in the early history of the colony. The inscriptions 
on most of the tombstones are peculiar to the times 
in which they had their origin, and to the present 
generation seem ludicrous and amusing. Rev. J. J. 
Marks, D.D., who participated in the Peninsular Cam- 
paign and who visited Williamsburg the day after the 
battle, transcribes the following inscription from a 
slab which among others arrested his attention on ac- 
count of its quaint, eccentric style. 

" Near this monument lies the body of the Honorable David 
Parke, of ye county of Essex, Esq., who was of the magistrates 
of the county eleven years, and sometime Secretary of the do^ 
minion of Virginia. He dyed ye 6th of March, Anno Domini 
1G79. His other felicityes weare crowned by his happy marriage 
with Rebecca, the daughter of George Evelyn, of the co. of 
Surry, Esq. She dyed ye 2nd day of January, Anno 1672, at 
Long Diton, co. Surrey, and left behind her a most hopeful 
progeny." 

Thus it may be seen that to the intelligent soldier 
and the student of history, the field of Williamsburg 
is one of more than ordinary interest. Having 
glanced at the scene of conflict which gives name to 
the battle, let us take a look at the forces which are 
marshaled for the contest. 

The bloodless and fruitless siege of Yorktown has 
terminated ; and the Rebels, whether from motives 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^33 

of interest or necessity, have decided to seek a new 
base of operations nearer their capital. The plains 
of Williamsburg seem to be the chosen field and Fort 
McGruder the back-bone of their new line of defense. 
At two o'clock in the afternoon of Monday, May 
the fifth, General McClellan, commanding the Army 
of the Potomac, found the enemy in position for battle 
at Lee's Mill, two miles east of Williamsburg. After 
the usual preliminaries of skirmishing, General Joseph 
Hooker, leading the advance, was instructed to make 
an attack ; and now opened one of the most sangui- 
nary battles of the Peninsular Campaign. The advan- 
tage of position was clearly in favor of the enemy, 
whose fortifications completely covered the almost 
impassable approaches to the field. The Federal 
troops were compelled to march over a narrow strip 
of land, on either side of which were creeks and 
swamps, in order to reach the open plains in front of 
Williamsburg. Fort McGruder, a fortification of 
considerable magnitude and occupied by the enemy, 
commanded this road. Nothing but the most invin- 
cible and undaunted bravery on the part of officers 
and men, enabled General Hooker with his division 
of but eight thousand to fight and hold in check an 
army of twenty thousand, which was hurled against 
him repeatedly at this point. Column after column 
was thrown against his right, left and center, but as 
the crag beats back the blast, so this intrepid soldier 
reformed his shattered ranks and pressed forward 
and still forward until dark defeat became a glorious 
victory. Hooker on this occa'sion exhibited that nerve 
and unwavering courage which has since made his 



234 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

name immortal and given him the highest position in 
the American army. For hours this general fought 
the combined forces of McGruder, Hill and Longstreet, 
and held his own until Kearney and Heintzelman were 
ordered forward to his support. 

A great want of ability and penetration on the part 
of McClellan seems to have characterized the opening 
of this engagement ; and the army and country will 
wonder, until the future has explained, why Hooker 
was allowed to struggle alone in the early part of the 
battle. 

Coming to the relief of Hooker, the chivalrous 
Kearney, never outdone in deeds of bravery, here 
performed one of those daring feats which made him 
the idol of his division, and which, under the eye of 
the great Napoleon, would have been rewarded with 
the "Cross of the Legion of Honor." With the pur- 
pose of disclosing to his command the concealed 
position of the enemy, he called the officers of his 
staff together, dashed out into the open field and rode 
leisurely along the entire line. Five thousand guns 
belched forth their death-dealing missiles, bullets fell 
around them like hail, two of his aids and three 
orderlies fell dead at his side, and before he reached 
the end of his perilous ride, he found himself almost 
alone. By this daring exploit he was enabled to 
accomplish his object of discovering the position and 
strength of the enemy ; then riding back to his divi- 
sion, he shouted, " You see my boys where to fire ! " 
Kearney now held his own until General Hancock 
came up and by a flank movement forced the enemy 
to retire to his fortifications. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^35 

On the evening of the fifth, the Rebels withdrew 
from their works and continued their retreat towards 
Richmond, and on the following morning General 
McClellan at the head of his victorious army marched 
triumphantly through Williamsburg in pursuit of the 
retreating foe. 

6* 



CHAPTER XIY. 

SEVEN PI3STES. 

The Preliminaries of Battle. — Cannonading and Picket-firing. — Vig- 
orous Attack of the Confederates. — Undaunted Bravery of the 
Unionists. — General Casey Unjustly Censured. — Testimony of the 
Enemy. — Incidents of the Battle-field. — Sufferings of the Wounded. 
—The First Night after Battle. 

THE battle of Seven Pines opened somewhat disas- 
trously to the Union Army. Cannonading and 
picket-firing had been kept up so continuously that it 
was difficult to know when a battle was in progress. 
Suddenly, while our troops were at dinner, the enemy 
made a vigorous attack upon our picket lines, which 
unfortunately were not more than eighty rods in 
advance of our camps. 

The retreating pickets were vigorously pursued 
into camp, and in an instant the artillery and musketry 
of the Rebels brought our forces to a realization of 
the fact that no idle thunder or blank cartridges 
aroused them from their coffee. From every quarter, 
long lines of the enemy rushed out of the forest into 
the open field, and with a wild yell peculiar to the 
Southern soldier, charged the advanced battalions of 
General Casey's division. Several regiments jumped 
into line and stood their ground until half of their 
number strewed the plain. All the artillery horses 
were killed and the captured guns were turned upon 






BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^ 

them. General Casey now fell back a few hundred 
yards, and reforming his little division, again defied 
the onset of the enemy. And here for three honrs 
less than six thousand men fought and held in check 
a force of twenty thousand ; for the command of Gen- 
eral Casey at the opening of the engagement did not 
exceed eight thousand men, and two thousand of their 
number were placed hors de combat in the first attack ; 
thus crippled, the division had to sustain for so 
long a period this unequal contest, which would have 
defeated and demoralized less brave and determined 
soldiers. 

It was thought for some time in military circles, 
that General Casey's defense was not so resolute as it 
should have been ; but to his credit be it said, that the 
enemy who is not expected to be over generous in 
the bestowal of praise upon a foe, spoke in the highest 
terms of Ins bravery, and said that his troops fought 
as well as they had ever known fresh and undisciplined 
regnnents to fight, and that they met from them a far 
more vigorous resistance than they had anticipated. 
They sai d that the position of General Casey was one 
of the greatest peril. Thrown in advance of Hooker 
and Kearney three miles, if they threw against him 
a large force it was almost impossible to reinforce him 
m i fame to prevent defeat. That they had expected to 
cut his division to pieces, and before reinforcements 
could poss,bly arrive drive back the shattered regi- 
ments to bear with them consternation and panic 

Hut so far from this being realized, the unyielding 
firmness of this division prevented their cutting 
through our left wing, capturing a part and demorat 



138 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

izing the whole ; for it held out against them until 
reinforcements came up. It was a gratification to 
hear this vindication of General Casey, and to see 
him relieved of those charges which, under the cir- 
cumstances, were so unjust and painful. 

The first night after a battle is always filled with 
indescribable horrors. Men in their death struggles 
begging for a cup of water ; shivering under the knife 
of the surgeon as he amputates their mangled limbs ; 
or praying, perhaps, that they may be spared to see 
their native hills once more, and the loved ones at 
home. 

Rev. J. J. Marks, from whom we have previously 
quoted and who was with the Union Army at Seven 
Pines, thus describes the events which followed the 
battle. " During the entire night the wounded were 
brought in until they covered the grounds around the 
house of Mr. Savage, and filled all the out-houses, 
barns, and sheds. 

" Lying alongside of our wounded men, were many 
Confederate soldiers and officers ; and to the honor of 
our men be it said, I heard no words of anger or re- 
proach, but the Rebels were uniformly treated as 
kindly as the Union soldiers. 

" All night the surgeons were occupied in amputa- 
tions, and, under the circumstances, they found it 
impossible to attend to many whose condition required 
food and stimulants. 

" Wounded men suffer greatly from cold and shiver 
as in winter, or with an ague. It was therefore essen- 
tial to lift them from the damp ground and cover them 
as far as possible. 



BA TTLF.S FOR THE UXfOX. 139 

" In the course of the evening twenty or thirty sol- 
diers from different regiments, who had borne in upon 
their shoulders their wounded comrades, permitted me 
to organize them into a corps of nurses. Colonel 
M'Kelvy, than whom no man was more active for the 
relief of our men, furnished twenty bales of hay, a 
thousand blankets, and permitted me to draw on the 
Commissary Department for coffee, sugar, and crack- 
ers to an indefinite amount. The nurse-soldiers soon 
spread down this hay and many a shivering wounded 
man when lifted from the damp earth and placed upon 
the soft grass bed with a blanket spread over him, 
poured out his gratitude in a thousand blessings. 
When this was done we followed with hot coffee, and 
found our way to every suffering man. Everywhere 
we were compelled to place our feet in streams of 
blood ; one spectacle of anguish and agony only suc- 
ceeded another. The mind was overwhelmed and 
benumbed by such scenes of accumulated misery. 
Where there was so much to be done, and where we 
«ould do so little, the temptation was to hurry away 
from such painful spectacles, and remember them only 
as the visions of a frightful dream. Great must be 
the cause which demands such a sacrifice. Here and 
there over the grounds were seen through that night 
a circle of lanterns moving around the tables of ampu- 
tators. Every few moments there was a shriek of 
some poor fellow under the knife, and one after an- 
other the sufferers were brought forward and laid 
down before the surgeons on stretchers, each waiting 
his turn. 

" And then again one with face as white as marble, 



140 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

and every line telling that he had passed through a 
suffering, the utmost which human nature could en- 
dure, was borne away and laid down for some kind- 
hearted man to pour into his lips a few drops of brandy, 
to lift up his head and give him the assurance of life 
and sympathy. There a brother knelt and wept over a 
dying brother, and his voice, broken with sobs, begged 
me to come and pray that his brother might be able 
to see Jesus and depart in peace. There a father 
held up in his arms a dying son and was receiving his 
last message to mother, sister, and brother ; here a 
group of sympathizing soldiers stood around a dying 
companion who was loudly bewailing his early death 
and that he should never see again the loved associ- 
ates of his youth. There, four or five were holding 
in their strong arms one whose brain having been 
pierced with a ball, and deprived' of reason, was strong 
in the frantic energy of madness ; here a beckoning 
hand urged me to come and at the sufferer's request 
sit down by his side and tell him what he must do to 
be saved. There was whispered a story of disobedi- 
ence, of crime, that now stung like a serpent and bit 
like an adder. Another begged me to come early in 
the morning and write a line to father or wife. Others 
entreated that they should not be compelled to submit 
to the knife of the operator, but that their limbs might 
be spared them for they felt sure that under the sur- 
geon's hand they should die. Others begged that 
some board might bear their names and be placed at 
the head of their graves. 

" If I turned from these scenes on the open ground 
and entered into any of the houses, spots of blood 



BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. \±\ 

stained the steps and the stairs. In the halls were 
lying alongside of each other many of the wounded 
and dead. The rooms were crowded with sufferers 
broken and shattered in every conceivable way by 
the enginery of death. 

" From the mouth of one was running a stream of 
blood ; another was upheld in the arms of a friend 
and gasping for breath, and the deep and unnaturally 
bright eye told that all the energies of life were sum- 
moned to the struggle. 

" One lying on the floor, told by his loud snore, of 
the injury done to the brain, and that he in all proba- 
bility would never open his eyes ; and another begged 
for help that he might change his position and relieve 
the suffering of his shattered thigh. 

' Night of nights ! who can tell thy tales of woe V 

"At one place where a wounded soldier was panting 
his last, I was summoned. He begged me to pray for 
him, and taking from his finger a gold ring, he asked 
me to send it to his wife who had given it to him on 
the day of their marriage, and now he wished it to be 
restored to her. In a few moments the last battle 
was fought and the soldier was asleep. On examin- 
ing the ring I found underneath the wrappings of a 
thread the initials ' J. S. to C. B.' This had been 
done to preserve the letters, and was the careful act 
of human love, anxious to preserve a sacred memento. 
In another group of sufferers I found a little boy, ap- 
parently not more than twelve years of age ; the long 
hair thrown back from the beautiful forehead, enabled 
me to see by the lantern light a very child-like face. 



142 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

His right leg had been amputated above his knee, and 
he was lying motionless and apparently breathless, 
and as white as snow. I bent over him and put my 
fingers on his wrist, and discovered to my surprise 
the faint trembling of a pulse. I immediately said 
to my attendant : 

" ' Why, the child is alive !' 

'"Yes, sir,' said he, opening his eyes, ' I am alive ; 
will you not send me to my mother V 

"' And where is your mother V said I, ' my child?' 

" ' In Sumpterville, South Carolina,' he replied. 

" ' Oh ! yes, my son, we will certainly send you to 
your mother.' 

" ' Well, well,' said he, ' that is kind ; I will go to 
sleep now.'" 



CHAPTER XV. 

^•-A-ijer. o^.:k:s. 

Positions Occupied by the Contending Forces.— General Hooker Com- 
mences the Action.— Advance of Sickles, Grover, and Robinson.— 
General Kearney and Colonel Hicks Protect the Flanks.— Both 
Armies Enveloped in a Cloud of Smoke.— The Engagement Becomes 
General—Defeat of the Rebels.-They Fly to Their Entrench- 
ments.— McClellan Orders a Cessation of Hostilities.— Renewal of 
the Battle.— Rout and Final Defeat of the Enemy. 

TFIIE battle of Fair Oaks was the first of a grand 
1 and never-to-be-forgotten series of engagements 
known as " The Seven Days' Battles." On the twenty- 
fifth of June, 1862, McClellan instructed General 
Heintzelman, then in command of the left wing of 
his army, to advance his entire front towards the 
enemy. For many days previous to this movement, 
the army had anticipated the order to advance, as 
everything seemed in readiness for a renewed demon- 
tration against Richmond. 

It was determined as a first step in the programme 
to attack and drive the enemy from his rifle pits and 
earthworks and establish our lines where his then were. 
The accomplishment of this design was committed to 
General Hooker, a brave and sagacious officer who 
had already been tried in several of the most sanguin- 
ary battles of the Peninsular Campaign. 



144 BATTLES FOR THE UNION: 

In front of Hooker's lines was a thick undergrowth 
of scrub-oaks, vines, and ragged b"shes skirting a mul- 
titude of ponds and marshes. This swampy wilder- 
ness was from four to six hundred }-ards wide, and 
beyond stretched an open field of eighty -ods in width. 
In this clearing were located the rifle-pits, earthworks 
and redoubts of the enemy. 

The assaulting column was comprised of the brig- 
ades of Sickles, Grovcr, and Robinson. 

General Kearney was directed to protect the left 
flank, and Colonel Hicks with the Nineteenth Massa- 
chusetts Infantry was commanded to advance to and 
cover the right. 

All necessary appointments having been made, the 
three brigades, led by General Hooker, advanced cau- 
tiously but firmly into the forest, and after having 
proceeded about two hundred yards, encountered and 
pushed back the Rebel pickets to their main reserves. 
This demonstration was quickly followed by a spirited 
skirmish which - soon resulted in rapid and incessant 
firing along the entire line. In a few moments the 
forest was a scene of furious contest and the ominous 
quiet was succeeded by the terrible din and clash of 
arms and the roar of cannon and musketry. 

Both armies were, for a time, enveloped in a cloud 
of smoke, which rising up and twisting itself among 
the trees, hung over the contending forces as a pall of 
darkness : and then streams of fire like angry light- 
nings shot athwart the sky; and anon, a courier would 
dash out from the gloom, covered with blood and dust, 
bearing dispatches or hastening for orders. 

In less than half an horn- after driving in the pickets, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^45 

the divisions of Hooker and Kearney were involved in 
the liveliest action. The arrival of fresh troops on 
both sides was an evidence that a decisive battle was 
courted by the contestants. 

The Federal troops pushed steadily forward routing 
the Confederates, and driving them from the forest 
into the open field beyond, over which they fled and 
sought protection in their intrenchments. 

Our men now raised a shout of triumph which 
was caught up by regiment after regiment and borne 
through the army. 

General G rover was about ordering an assault 
against the Rebels in their defences when he received 
an order from General McClellan to halt his brigade. 
From an erroneous impression concerning the actual 
condition of the forces engaged he ordered General 
Hooker to retire from the field of victory, and return 
to the position occupied before the battle ; but when 
McClellan subsequently came upon the field, he ordered 
our troops to advance and re-occupy the woods and 
fields they had taken, and before night the Confeder- 
ates were driven out of their rifle-pits and from the 
fields, and we had gained a victory which cost us 
nearly a thousand of our best men in killed and 
wounded. 

The Rebels smarting under the punishment they 
had received in the afternoon, came out in force at six 
o'clock in the evening and re-opened the battle by at- 
tacking General Robinson's brigade. 

This last onset was the closing scene in the battle of 
Fair Oaks, and was a bitter, earnest struggle for the 
fruits of conflict. The Confederates made a very de- 



246 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

termined charge led by a very brave regiment of Geor- 
gians, but they were met by men equally brave and 
determined, and receiving a check at the points of our 
bayonets were speedily repulsed and driven back leav- 
ing four hundred of their number dead on the field. 
The Federal troops were under arms the entire night 
following this engagement, with instructions to be 
prepared to advance at a moment's notice. Every 
now and then there was an attack upon some portion 
of our lines, the Confederates seemingly determined 
to regain by surprise or strategy what they had lost 
during the day ; but it was subsequently ascertained 
that these apparently futile assaults were only feints 
intended to occupy our attention and to prevent Mc- 
Clellan sending reinforcements to the right wing of 
his army. 

When McClellan on the twenty-fifth ordered an ad- 
vance upon the Confederate works, our army was full 
of hope, believing that we were then taking the initia- 
tory step in a series of actions which would in a few 
days place us in possession of Richmond. We were 
successful at Fair Oaks and confident that the next day 
would enable us to overcome half of the obstacles 
that disputed our march to the Rebel capitol. At an 
early hour on the morning of Thursday, the twenty- 
sixth, the roar of battle was heard along the Chicka- 
hominy. 

This was the hotly contested battle of Mechanics- 
ville, the second of the Seven Days' Battles which was 
successively followed with varying fortune, by Gains' 
Mills, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Glendale, 
and Malvern Hill. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Ivl^_I_,-VEX=L]Sr HILL. 

Battle of Malvern Hill.-The Final Engagement of the Peninsular 
Campaign.— Scene of the Battle.— Influence of our Gunboats -At- 
tack of the Rebels led by General Magruder.-Destructive Fire 
from Federal Cannon—The Rebels Repulsed—They Reform and 
Charge Again— Another Tempest of Fire from our Batteries 
Sweeps them from the Field— Their Guns are Silenced, the Horses 
Kdled and Regiments Cut Down— McClellan Orders a Retreat to 
Harrison's Landing— Indignation of the Army.-General Kearney 
Protests Against the Order for Retreat— General Martindale Sheds 
Tears of Shame. 

MALVERN HILL, the scene of the final engage 
IlL ment of the Peninsular campaign, is an eleva- 
tion of nearly two hundred feet and fronts on James 
river to the south, which flows lazily along at a dis- 
tance of between two and three miles. To the north 
it faces an open field of from a half to two-thirds 
of a mile in length and one-third in width. To the 
north and east is a gentle, undulating slope, but to 
the south and west it is quite rugged and difficult of 
ascent. 

On this elevated plain stands an old-fashioned but 
decidedly substantial country-seat, known as the Crew 
House, surrounded by a large number of out-houses 
which are embosomed in a multitude of vines and 
trees. 



148 BATTLES FOR THE UNION: 

A bright, magnificent, enchanting prospect opened 
to the eyes of the Federal troops as they took position 
on Malvern Hill. From the darkness and gloom of 
the Chickahominy swamps and from fields trodden 
into barrenness, they were brought to gaze upon a 
country which had not as yet felt the devastating 
tread of armies. 

The story of this battle has been so eloquently told 
by an eye-witness, that I cannot refrain from quoting 
it here. He says that during the night previous to 
the battle, rifle pits were dug under the guns, in the 
slope. The troops in these pits were covered with 
straw and freshly-reaped grain, and the glasses of the 
officers of the Confederate army could not see that 
before they could take these batteries, they would have 
to encounter ten thousand bayonets. 

The strength of our position was increased by the 
presence of five gun-boats, ready at a moment's no- 
tice to open in action. The moral influence of these 
on our army was very manifest. 

During the morning the enemy, now under the 
command of General Magruder, assisted by Jackson, 
Longstreet, Hill, and Huger, advanced from different 
points shelling the woods as they slowly felt their 
way, and at length, about noon, their skirmishers 
discovered our position. The field in our front was 
about three-fourths of a mile long and half a mile 
wide, and beyond it a deep, dark, pine forest. On 
the edge of this field at different points General Ma- 
gruder threw out batteries and regiments, for what 
purpose could not be known ; and no sooner were 
they disclosed than they brought on them a rain of 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 449 

death. In a moment the regiments were swept away 
like chaff before a storm. 

The horses were killed at the guns, the carriages 
were tossed into a thousand fragments, the caissons 
were exploded, and the gunners who still lived, es- 
caped into the shelter of the woods. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon General Magru- 
der ordered an advance along the entire left wing of his 
line ; and there were brought out into the field several 
divisions and batteries. Prominent among these were 
the brigades of Toombs, Cobb, Wright, and Armisted, 
among the finest troops in the Southern army. They 
were sustained by about twenty pieces of artillery 
thrown out into the plain. The first column advanced 
with steady step towards our batteries ; but long be- 
fore it reached the middle of the open ground, the 
troops were met by such an iron tempest, that the few 
who survived fell to the ground, and abandoning their 
guns commenced crawling back on their faces to- 
wards the forest. 

A second column with a courage which on the part 
of their officers was madness, but was at the moment 
the admiration of our army, ran out into the open 
field and pressed towards our death-dealing cannon. 

These again were mowed down. They rallied, fee- 
bly shouted defiance, pressed into the cloud of smoke, 
and another tempest of fire lighted up the scene for a 
moment and that column was gone. Here and there 
a straggler emerged from the smoke and ran across 
the field to his friends ; he was but one, while the 
hundreds were lying mangled and dead on the plain. 

A third column was thrown out from the cover of 



^50 BATTLES FUR THE UNION. 

the forest ; fresh batteries were brought into play ? 
and when the smoke had slightly lifted up from the 
field, the terrific conflict was renewed ; again the 
guns of the Confederates were silenced, the horses 
killed, the caissons on fire, and the regiments cut 
down ; re-forming, now prostrate, and then springing 
forward, until their thinned and ragged lines, as they 
came within musket range, presented so pitiable a 
spectacle that our men fired with little purpose to 
kill. 

About half-past five o'clock in the afternoon, a pow- 
erful body of troops from General Magruder's center 
were advanced into the field ; their orders were to 
press forward over every obstacle. 

There is every reason to believe that these troops 
had been rendered insensible to fear by whiskey 
drugged with gunpowder ; and undeterred by the fate 
of those who had perished in previous attacks, with 
shouts and yells they pressed on towards our men. 
Many pieces of our cannon opened upon them and 
grape and shell swept through their lines ; treading 
on the dead, pressing down the living who had fallen 
to the ground, they with unwavering step still ad- 
vanced ; emboldened by their example, other regi- 
ments ran out with wild cheers from the forest ; on 
and on over the field of carnage they advanced ; 
every discharge of our guns made great gaps in their 
lines, but instantly closing up, they pressed forward : 
another sheet of flame would spread out over the 
field and the roar and thunder followed, moving the 
ground as if trembling in the convulsion of an earth- 
quake. 




Li 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. -[53 

When the smoke cleared away a little, the broken 
columns were seen still with fiery madness pressing 
on. Already they had begun to ascend the slope, 
and had succeeded in coining so near that our artil- 
lery could no longer so damagingly sweep the ground. 
With all the frenzy of maniacs they still ran to- 
wards us ; the efforts of the artillery were re-doubled ; 
the men at our guns turned pale and stood aghast ; 
another moment and the day might be lost ;— just 
then up sprang our concealed men in the rifle-pits, 
and a long stream of fire darted forth from a thous- 
and muskets, and springing forward with fixed bayo- 
net, they met the foe who quailed, wavered and then 
renewed the conflict, but it was in vain ; with the in- 
sanity of men who sought death, they still continued 
the struggle, and a long line of their dead at the base 
of this hill, bore witness to the severity and destruc- 
tiveness of the contest. The whole scene at this time 
was one of terror and appalling splendor. 

The batteries on the heights continued to pour a 
constant and withering fire into the forests where the 
forces of the enemy were concealed, and simulta- 
neously the thunder of a hundred great guns shook 
the hill and caused the waters of the river to tremble. 
The firing of the gunboats added very much to the 
overpowering grandeur of the hour. The shells dis- 
charged from the monster guns of these vessels 
rushed through the air with a frightful shriek that 
was heard above the roar of battle ; then when they 
entered the forests, great trees were shivered into a 
thousand fragments, the branches were torn from 
others and tossed into the heavens, or thrown far into 

1 



w 5 4 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

the deep shades, and when they burst, it was with an 
explosion that shook the earth for miles. The terror 
inspired by these shells was such as to deprive the 
rebels of all courage and they fled into the deeper re- 
cesses of the forest. 

The contest in front of the rifle-pits was but short, 
for, unable to bear up against the impetuous attack of 
our men, the enemy endeavored to remove their broken 
columns from the field. As they fled they were pur- 
sued three-fourths of a mile by the Union troops and 
the entire Rebel army was struck with a panic ; and 
if at this moment we could have brought ten thous- 
and reserves into the field, we might have marched 
back again and re-taken all we had lost, and without 
any difficulty reached Richmond ;— this statement will 
be amply confirmed in subsequent chapters. 

On the fleeing columns of the enemy, our batteries 
and gun-boats continued to fire until ten o'clock at 
night, throwing the shells into the forests ; for hours 
not a gun replied and not even a courier dared to 
show himself in the open field. 

The battle was over, but the cannonading still con- 
tinued, and shells and balls of every kind tore through 
the woods in a ceaseless whirlwind of fury. In the 
meantime, thousands of the Confederates fled in the 
wildest disorder from the scene, and hid themselves in 
swamps and hollows :— soldiers without guns, horse- 
men without caps and swords came to the hospitals on 
the battle-field of Glendale and reported that their 
regiments and brigades were swept away and that they 
alone were " escaped to tell the tale". 

It is one of the strangest things in this week of dis- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 155 

aster that General McClellan ordered a retreat to 
Harrison's Landing, six miles down the James river, 
after we had gained so decided a victory. When this 
order was received by the impatient and eager army, 
consternation and amazement overwhelmed our patri- 
otic and ardent hosts. Some refused to obey the com- 
mand. General Martindale shed tears of shame. 

The brave and chivalrous Kearney said in the pres- 
ence of many officers ; "I, Philip Kearney, an old 
soldier, enter my solemn protest against this order for 
retreat, — we ought, instead of retreating, to follow 
up the enemy and take Richmond. And in full view 
of all the responsibility of such a declaration, I say to 
you all, such an order can only be prompted by cow- 
ardice or treason." 

And with all, hopelessness and despair succeeded 
the flush of triumph. In silence and gloom our victo- 
rious army commenced retiring from an enemy utterly 
broken, scattered, and panic-stricken. 

And when there was not a foe within miles of us, 
we left our wounded behind to perish, and any one 
witnessing the wild eagerness of our retreat, would 
have supposed that we were in the greatest peril from 
% vigilant and triumphant enemy. During the nights 
of the first and second of July we were visited by one 
of the heaviest of rain-storms : this continued for 
twenty-four hours without intermission, until the en- 
tire Peninsula was covered with water, and rivers 
rushed where there had been only little streams. In 
this storm, on the morning of Wednesday, the army 
fell down to Berkely or Harrison's Landing. This 
was done on account of the superiority of the landing, 



156 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

James river at this point being broad and deep. The 
position was of such a character that the army could 
be shielded from any force the enemy could bring 
against us. We could have taken many of his aban- 
doned guns from the field, but satisfied ourselves with 
carrying off all our own with incredible difficulty, over 
worse than Crimean roads. "We retired to Harrison's 
Landing without the enemy making any demonstration 
in our rear : and weary and exhausted by struggles 
and battles which have probably no parallel in human 
history, our troops found rest. And of the Grand 
Army of the Potomac, fifty-eight thousand remained, 
and sixty thousand were in the hospitals, lying wound- 
ed on the field, or killed in battle. 

Our loss in the battle of Malvern Hill was slight 
compared with that of other days. But the loss of 
the enemy on this single field was fully equal in killed 
and wounded to our losses in the seven days. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

OBDAR ^OTTIST'r.A.IINr. 

The Battle-ground. — Jackson En route for Culpepper. — Occupancy of 
Cedar Mountain. — Three Miles of Batteries. — Banks Receives the 
Attack. — A Rain of Fire. — Charge on Enemy's Battery. — Over- 
whelmed by Superior Numbers. — Ricketts to the Front. — Enemy 
Compelled to Fall Back. — Artillery Battle at Night. — Interment of 
Fallen Braves. — Losses. — The Enemy Retires. — Cedar Mountain 
Occupied by Union Troops. 

THE first stopping-point south of Brandy Station on 
the Orange and Alexandria railroad in Virginia, is 
Culpepper Court House. Midway between this point 
and the banks of the Rapidan, rises Cedar Mountain, 
a cone-shaped elevation with wooded sides and grassy 
slopes which gave its name to the engagement fought 
here, August ninth, 1862. 

For nearly a month the forces of the enemy under 
Stonewall Jackson had been watching the line of the 
Rapidan, and when General Pope marched towards 
Culpepper Court House, the enemy made haste to push 
his forces in that direction, to cut off, if possible, the 
Union advance before the main body of the Federal 
army could come up. The Confederates did not reach 
Culpepper Court House, but at day-break on the ninth 
held Cedar Mountain and were intrenched behind its 
wooded heights. 



258 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

They also occupied a range of heights and ravines 
westward of the mountain. 

One mile away, on an elevated plateau extending to 
the eastward for the distance of a mile and westward 
an equal distance, General Banks drew up his army 
in battle array to receive the attack of the Confeder- 
ates. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the pickets 
on our right were driven in and a battery directly in 
our front opened on us at long range. Then there 
came pouring in upon our troops a red rain of 
fire from batteries unmasking on the hill-side and ar- 
ranged in a semicircle for a distance of three miles. 

For two hours did this storm of destruction sweep 
our ranks. Cross fires and flank fires were received 
at every point. The enemy outnumbered us in men 
and in guns besides having the advantage of position. 
But up to five o'clock our batteries replied to theirs 
shot for shot. 

Then it was that the enemy opened an enfilading 
fire on our right and General Banks gave orders to 
reserve fire and charge the Confederate guns. 

Crawford's Brigade of Williams' Division made the 
charge and the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania regiment led 
the van. But a withering fire proceeding from a 
thicket of scrub oaks just back of the Confederate 
battery, mowed down the Union ranks with great 
slaughter. 

The commands of Augur and Williams were brought 
to the support of the advance, but the overwhelming 
numbers of the enemy, his advantage of position and 
the great gaps in our lines compelled General Banks 
to fall gradually back, meeting as he did so the sup- 
ports of Pope which were in close proximity. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. I59 

General Pope at once ordered Ricketts to the front 
where his battery was used with such effect on the 
Confederates who attempted to follow up Banks, that 
they retired in confusion to their old position, sustain- 
ing considerable loss in the encounter. 

A sharp artillery battle was kept up between the 
contestants until midnight, the battle-ground of the 
day previous being occupied by neither army, but 
swept by the guns of both. The hours of the tenth 
of August — the day after the battle — were occupied 
by our soldiers in giving burial to their fallen com- 
rades. Dust was consigned to dust on the field where 
they fell, and another strike for country was recorded, 
at what precious cost of life! 

During the night of the eleventh, Stonewall Jack- 
son re-crossed the Rapidan and retired in the direc- 
tion of Orange Court-House. The Union loss in this 
drawn battle was about eighteen hundred in killed, 
wounded, and missing, besides about one thousand 
stragglers who went back beyond Culpepper Court 
House and never entirely rejoined their commands. 

General Prince was taken prisoner, and Generals 
Augur, Geary, and Carroll were severely wounded. 
General Banks, colliding with a runaway horse, was 
thrown from his own and injured. 

The enemy's loss was nearly the same as ours, 
and Generals Winder and Trimble were killed. A 
heavy cavalry force under Buford and Bayard went 
in pursuit of the enemy and captured many strag- 
glers. The Union head-quarters were now placed 
at Cedar Mountain and our forces advanced to the 
Rapidan. 



ICO BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

General Pope, believing that the enemy's forces in 
his front were* unnecessarily strong for reconnoitering 
purposes only, called in all his available troops. He 
was joined on the eleventh by King from Fredericks- 
burg and on the fourteenth by General Reno with 
eight thousand men. The programme for the suc- 
ceeding ten or twelve days was varied by the camp, 
the march, and the skirmish-line. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

BR^-KTIDy STATION. 

First Battle. — Lee Resumes Hostilities. — Stuart's Cavalry Attack. — 
Gallant Repulse by Kilpatrick. — Second Battle. — Skirmish at Kelly's 
Ford. — Splendid Charge of the Union Army. — Complete Rout of tho 

Enemy. — Heroic Feats on the Field. — Charge of the First Maine. 

Full of Colonel Davis. — Third Battle. — The Enemy Swept from the 
Plains. — Prisoners and Materials of War Captured. — Fourth Bat- 
tle. — Critical Situation of Kilpatrick. — Bravery of Custer and Da- 
vies.— The Exultant Battle-Cry.— Fresh Laurels for the Union 
Troops. — Scene on the Battle-field. — The Writer's Part in the Four 
Contests. 

rPHE words Brandy Station will ever excite a multi- 
1 tude of thrilling memories in the minds of all 
cavalry-men who saw service in Virginia; for this 
was the grand cavalry battle-ground of the war. 

On these historic plains our Bayard, Stoneman, and 
Pleasanton have successively led their gallant troopers 
against the commands of Stuart, Lee, and Hampton. 
The twentieth of August, 1862, the ninth of June, 
twelfth of September, and eleventh of October, 1863, 
are days which cannot soon be forgotten by the " Boys 
in Blue " who crossed sabres with the Confederates 
at Brandy Station. 

Converging and diverging roads at this point quite 
naturally brought the cavalry of the contending 
armies together whenever we advanced to or retired 
from the Rapidan. Being both the advance and rear 



162 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

guard of the opposing forces, our horsemen always 
found themselves face to face with the foe on this 
field ; in fact most of our cavalry men were so confident 

of a fight here that as soon as we discovered that we 
were approaching the Station we prepared for action 
by tightening our saddle-girths and inspecting our 
arms. 

First Brandy Station. 

Upon the withdrawal of the Army of the Potomac 
from the Peninsula, General Lee, contemplating the 
invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, started his 
army northward with the view, no doubt, of driving 
Pope from Northern Virginia and carrying the Con- 
federate standard into the loyal states. The battle of 
Cedar Mountain temporarily checked his forward move- 
ment and compelled him to retire to the south bank 
of the Rapidan. The re-appearance of Rebel skir- 
mishers at the various fords of this river on the morn- 
ing of August eighteenth, 1862, was an evidence to 
our pickets that the enemy was about to resume hos- 
tilities. 

General Pope at once ordered his artillery and in- 
fantry to retire beyond the Rappahannock, while Gen- 
eral Bayard commanding the cavalry was charged 
with covering the rear of the retiring army. We 
disputed the advance of the Rebels so stubbornly 
that they found no opportunity to interfere with the 
retreat of the main column. The morning of the 
twentieth found the " Harris Light," Tenth New York, 
First Pennsylvania, First Maine, First Rhode Island, 
and First New Jersey Cavalry bivouacked at Brandy 
Station. 



BA TTLES F OR THE UNION. 163 

The engagement opened at six o'clock by an attack 
ot btuart s cavalry upon the Harris Light, acting 
as rear-guard of Bayard's Brigade. 

This preliminary onset was speedily repulsed by the 
Harris Light, which regiment kept the enemy in check 
until General Bayard had gained sufficient time to 
enable him to form his command at a more favorable 
point, two miles north of the Station on the direct 
road to the Rappahannock. Here the Harris Light 
led by Colonel Kilpatrick and Major Davies, again 
charged the advance regiments of the Confederate 
column, thus opening the series of memorable con- 
flicts at Brandy Station and adding fresh laurels to 
its already famous record. A deep cut in a hill 
through which the Orange and Alexandria Railroad 
passes, checked our pursuit, else we should have cap- 
tured many prisoners. The First New Jersey and 
*irst Pennsylvania coming to our relief enabled us to 
reform our broken squadrons, and as Pope had in- 
structed General Bayard not to bring on a general en- 
gagement the cavalry now crossed the Rappahannock 
and awaited the orders of the general-in-chief. 

Second Brandy Station. 
The battle of Chancellorsville did not materially 
change the positions of the contending armies, but 
General Lee, emboldened by his success in compel- 
ling his new adversary to retrace his steps across the 
Rappahannock, began at once to put himself in a con- 
dition to take the offensive. This activity in the 
Rebel camp soon determined General Hooker to make 
a reconnoisance in force, and he accordingly instruct- 



164 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

ed General Pleasanton, now in command of the cav- 
alry corps, to proceed to Culpepper, break up Stuart's 
encampment at that point and ascertain, if possible, 
the whereabouts and probable destination of the Con- 
federate Chief. 

At eight o'clock in the afternoon of June eighth, 
the Cavalry Corps moved from its temporary head- 
quarters at Warrenton Junction towards the Rappa- 
hannock. "We moved in two columns, one taking the 
road to Beverly and the other to Kelly's Ford. 

Early on the morning of the ninth we arrived at 
the river, where it was evident we were not expected 
in force, for we found nothing but a strong picket 
guard to contest our advance. 

A brief though brisk skirmish took place at Kelly's 
Ford between the Harris Light Cavalry, acting as van- 
guard of the column under Kilpatrick, and the Con- 
federate pickets. The latter were quickly driven 
back, and the division began to cross over. On 
reaching the south bank of the stream, the column 
was reformed and we advanced several miles at a 
trot and gallop, the men meantime cutting from their 
saddles overcoats, blankets, forage, and in short every- 
thing which was found to be an obstruction to speed. 

The column at Beverly Ford, commanded by Gen- 
eral Gregg, had been engaged since early in the 
morning, and the roaring of light arms and the 
booming of cannon clearly indicated to us that hot 
work was being done by our comrades below. It had 
been hoped that the column would be able to strike 
the enemy in flank at Brandy Station, in the early 
part of the day, giving us an opportunity to rake 






BATTLES FOR THE UXIOX. Ig5 

them furiously in front. Hence we were somewhat 
retarded in our movements, waiting or expecting the 
combinations and juxtapositions which had been 
planned. But failing in this, at length we advanced 
towards the Station, where at ten o'clock we engaged 
a regiment of Stuart's cavalry. As soon as we 
reached the field which they had evidently selected 
for the fight, we charged them in a splendid manner, 
routing them completely, and capturing many prison- 
ers. Light artillery was used briskly on both sides. 
By twelve o'clock, Pleasanton's entire force had 
effected a union, after much severe fighting on the 
left, and the engagement became general. 

The infantry fought side by side with the cavalry. 
There was some grand manceuvering on that historic 
field, and feats were performed worthy of heroes. 
One incident should be particularized. At a critical 
moment, when the formidable and ever-increasing 
hosts of the enemy were driving our forces from a 
desirable position we sought to gain, and when it 
seemed as though disaster to our arms would be fatal, 
Kilpatrick's battle-flag was seen advancing followed 
by the tried squadrons of the Harris Light, the Tenth 
New York, and the First Maine. In echelons of 
squadrons our brigade was quickly formed, and we ad- 
vanced like a storm-cloud upon the Rebel cavalry 
which filled the field before us. The Tenth New 
York received the first shock of the Rebel charge, but 
was hurled back, though not in confusion. The 
Harris Light met with no better success ; aud, not- 
withstanding its prestige and power, we were re- 
pulsed under the very eye of our chief, whose ex- 



166 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

citement at the scene was well-nigh uncontrollable. 
His flashing eye now turned to the First Maine, a 
regiment composed mostly of heavy, sturdy men who 
had not been engaged as yet during the day, and, 
riding to the head of the column, he shouted, " Men 
of Maine, you must save the day ! Follow me ! " 
With one simultaneous war-cry these giants of the 
North moved forward in one solid mass upon the 
flank of the Rebel columns. The shock was over- 
whelming; and the opposing lines crumbled like a 
"bowing wall" before this wild rush of prancing 
horses, gleaming sabres, and rattling balls. 

On rode Kilpatrick with the men of Maine, and, on 
meeting the two regiments of his brigade, which had 
been repulsed and were returning from the front, the 
General's voice rang out like clarion notes above the 
din of battle, " Back, the Harris Light ! Back, the 
Tenth New York! Re-form your squadrons and 
charge ! " With magical alacrity the order was 
obeyed, and the two regiments which had been so 
humbled by their first reverse, now rushed into the 
fight with a spirit and success which redeemed them 
from censure, and accounted them worthy of their 
gallant leader. The commanding position was won ; 
a battery lost in a previous charge was re-captured, 
and an effectual blow was given to the enemy which 
greatly facilitated the movements which followed. 
But the Rebel cavalry was greatly emboldened and 
strengthened by reinforcements of infantry which 
were brought in railroad cars from Culpepper. We, 
however, continued to press them closely until six 
o'clock in the afternoon, when, by a grand charge of 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. \QQ 

our entire force, we gained an important position, 
which ended the contest. 

Heavy columns of Rebel infantry could now be 
distinctly seen advancing over the plains from the 
direction of Culpepper, to the rescue of their fairly- 
beaten cavalry. But it was too late for them, for we 
had won a splendid victory, and had gained all the 
information of Rebel movements which we desired to 
obtain. Under cover of the night we re-crossed the 
Rappahannock in safety. 

The whole command had lost about five hundred- 
men, and we brought over with us one hundred pris- 
oners. In the early part of the engagement, fell 
Colonel Davis, of the Eighth New York Cavalry, who 
was instantly killed. His loss was a subject of gen- 
eral lamentation. He had distinguished himself for 
great sagacity, wonderful powers of endurance, and 
unsurpassed bravery. He it was who led the cavalry 
safely from Harper's Ferry, just before Miles' surren 
der of the place, and who, on his way to Pennsylvania, 
captured Longstreet's ammunition train. 

Among our wounded was Colonel Percy Wyndham. 
The enemy's killed included Colonel Saul Williams, 
of the Second North Carolina, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Frank Hampton, of the South Carolina Cavalry. They 
acknowledged a loss of six hundred men. 

Two important ends were reached by this advance ; 
namely, first, a cavalry raid contemplated by Stuart, 
who had massed his forces near Culpepper, was utterly 
frustrated ; and second, General Pleasanton ascer- 
tained conclusively, that General Lee was marching 
his army northward, with the evident design of in- 



17 q BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

vading the Northern States. Indeed, it was a suspi- 
cion of such a movement that led General Hooker to 
order the reconnoissance. 

The day following this glorious fight, in which the 
men of the North had proved themselves to be more 
than a match for the boasted Southern chivalry, and 
had gained a name which placed Pleasanton's com- 
mand at the head of the world's cavalry forces, Pleas- 
anton was made a Major-General, and Kilpatrick a 
Brigadier. Their stars were well deserved and 
proudly won. 

Third Brandy Station. 
On the eleventh of September, 1863, General Meade 
ordered the cavalry to be withdrawn from the various 
picket posts along the Rappahannock, and instructed 
to be in readiness to take the advance in a forward 
movement against the enemy. At an early hour on 
the following morning the entire cavalry corps, acting 
as vanguard to the Army of the Potomac, was ad- 
vancing towards the Rappahannock. 

In order that the enemy might not be prematurely 
warned of our designs, the several commands were 
ordered to make as little noise as possible. Conse- 
quently, the bugle-calls were dispensed with, and the 
officers conveyed their orders from rank to rank in a 

whisper. 

The three division commanders, Buford, Gregg, 
and Kilpatrick, were instructed to cross the river as 
f ll 0WS : _Gregg at Sulphur Springs, Buford at Rap- 
pahannock Bridge, and Kilpatrick at Kelly's Ford. 

At six o'clock in the morning, the Harris Light 
plunged into the river at Kelly's Ford, leading the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. -|J1 

advance as usual, when an engagement was expected 
at Brandy Station ;— in fact, the officers and men of 
the Harris Light had become so familiar with this 
field by former experiences here that it was unques- 
tionably policy on the part of the commander to assign 
to our regiment the work of measuring the ground 
and testing the strength of the enemy. 

A strong detachment of Stuart's cavalry, consisting 
of pickets and reserves, opposed our crossing with 
dogged pertinacity, but finally, yielding to our supe- 
rior numbers and to the deadly accuracy of our car- 
bines, gave way. We then moved in the direction 
of Brandy Station. The farther we advanced the 
stronger grew the ever-accumulating force of the 
enemy, who disputed every inch of ground with 
great stubbornness. On arriving near the Station we 
found the enemy in strong force, with artillery posted 
on the surrounding hills. We saw clearly that a third 
cavalry fight was destined to be fought on this historic 
field, and we began to make preparations for the 
onset. It was the writer's privilege to command and 
lead the advance squadron against the Confederates 
in this fight, and I shall not soon forget the circum- 
stance of forming my command after the first onset, 
for but a moment after the formation, and while 
sitting on my horse in front of the line, a solid shot 
from the Rebel artillery came crushing through our 
ranks, killing three men and four horses. The con- 
cussion of the ball nearly drew me from my horse, 
and when I turned in my saddle to mark the result, 
saw that not more than the width of a sabre had 
saved me from sharing the fate of the poor men who 
had been struck by the deadly missile. 



172 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

We had not been fighting long before the other 
divisions joined us. At their approach, great enthu- 
siasm among our boys prevailed. Before our com- 
bined force the enemy was swept from those plains 
like chaff before the whirlwind. They fled in the 
direction of Culpepper, a naturally strong and now 
fortified position, where we knew we must soon en- 
counter the Rebel chivalry en masse upon their chosen 
field. 

From Brandy Station, General Pleasanton directed 
Kilpatrick to make a detour via Stevensburg, in order 
to operate as a flanking column upon the enemy at 
the proper time. With the First and Second Divisions, 
Pleasanton pushed straight on to Culpepper, driving 
the enemy before him without much resistance until 
within about a mile of the town. Here our advance, 
was effectually checked. A fearful duel now took place 
with varying fortune. For some time the enemy 
baffled all our efforts to dislodge him from his strong 
position, and our men began to look wishfully for the 
flankers, when lo ! Kilpatrick's flags were seen ad- 
vancing from the direction of Stevensburg, and his 
artillery was soon thundering on the Confederate flank 
and rear. Under this unexpected and well-directed 
fire, that portion of the enemy which had kept our 
main column at bay, fell back in confusion into the 
town ; and before they had time to re-form their broken 
lines, the Harris Light, Fifth New York, First Ver- 
mont, and First Michigan, led by General Custer, 
dashed upon the "Johnnies" in the streets, throwing 
the boast of the chivalry into a prefect rout. Many 
prisoners were captured, more or less material of war, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^3 

and three Blakcly guns. The Rebels retreated hastily 
in the direction of Pony Mountain and Rapidan Bridge, 
whither they were closely pursued by our victorious 
squadrons. The day following this brilliant advance, 
Pleasanton occupied all the fords of the Rapidan, 
extending his pickets on our right as far forward as 
the Robertson and Hazel Rivers. 

Fourth Brandy Station. 

A little after sunrise on the tenth of October, 1863, 
the Confederates in heavy force came down upon our 
pickets along the Robertson River, driving us back in 
haste and occupying the fords. The flank movement 
of General Lee was fully understood. He had crossed 
the Rapidan, advanced to Madison Court House, and 
was lapping around our right wing threatening it with 
destruction. Quick work on our part was now neces- 
sary. Swift messengers from officers high in com- 
mand, brought orders to retire with promptness, but 
in good order if possible. 

Sharp skirmishing took place at the river, and the 
successive crack of carbines afforded the music of our 
march to James City, where the conflict deepened 
into a battle, which raged with fury and slaughter. 
The enemy, conscious of having outgeneraled us in 
this instance, and having at least a temporary advan- 
tage, was bold and defiant. He was met, however, 
with corresponding vigor. Those contesting legions, 
which had so often measured sabres in the fearful 
charge and hand-to-hand encounter, again appealed to 
the God of battle, and wrestled with Herculean 
strength for the mastery. Night came on at length 
to hush the strife, and the weary men and horses 
sought repose from the bloody fray. 



^74 BATTLES FUR THE UNION. 

With the first pencilings of the morning light oi 
October eleventh, we took up our line of march 
towards the Rappahannock. Skirmishing continued 
nearly every step of the way. On the Sperryville 
pike to Culpepper, we were closely pursued and heavily 
pressed. At Culpepper the corps separated. Gregg, 
who had come by way of Cedar Mountain, passed out 
on the road to Sulphur Springs. Buford moved in the 
direction of Stevensburg, leaving Kilpatrick alone on 
the main thoroughfare along the railroad line. Kil- 
patrick, accompanied by Pleasanton, had scarcely left 
Culpepper, when Hampton's legions made a furious 
attack upon his rear-guard, with the hope of breaking 
through upon the main column to scatter it, or of so 
retarding its progress that a flanking column might 
fall upon him ere he could reach the safe shore of the 
Rappahannock. 

Our infantry, which yesterday occupied this ground, 
had retired, leaving the cavalry to struggle out of the 
toils of the enemy as best it could. 

Gallantly repelling every attack of the enemy, our 
command moved on, without expending much ot its 
time and material, until opposite the residence of Hon. 
John Minor Botts, where a few regiments suddenly 
wheeled about, and, facing the pursuing foe, charged 
upon them with pistols and sabres, giving them a se- 
vere check and an unexpected repulse. 

On arriving at Brandy Station, Kilpatrick found 
lumself in a most critical situation, with an accumula- 
tion of formidable difficulties on hand, which threat- 
ened his annihilation. 

Buford, who had been sharply pursued by Fitzhugh 



I 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 175 

Lee's division over the plains of Stevensburg, had re- 
tired more rapidly than Kilpatrick, and, unaware of 
his comrade's danger, had suffered Lee to plant his 
batteries on the high hills which commanded Kilpat- 
rick's right, while the rebel troopers, in three heavy 
lines of battle, held the only route by which Kilpatrick 
could retreat. Lee's sharp shooters also occupied the 
woods in the immediate vicinity of Kilpatrick's col- 
umns, where they were making themselves a source 
of danger and great annoyance. To increase the dan- 
ger of the situation, Stuart, by hard marching, had 
swung around to Kilpatrick's left, and had taken pos- 
session of a range of hills, planted batteries, and was 
preparing to charge down upon the surrounded divi- 
sion below. 

This was a situation to try the stoutest hearts. 
Nothing daunted, however, by this terrific array of the 
enemy, Kilpatrick displayed that decision and daring 
which have ever characterized him as a great cavalry 
leader, and proved himself worthy of the brave men 
who composed his command. His preparation for 
the grand charge was soon completed. 

Forming his division into three lines of battle, he 
assigned the right to Davies, the left to Custer, and 
placing himself with Pleasanton in the center ad- 
vanced with unwavering determination to the contest. 
Having approached to within a few yards of the 
enemy's lines in his front, he ordered his band to 
strike up a national air, to whose spirit-stirring strains 
was joined the blast of scores of bugles, ringing forth 
the charge. 

With his usual daring, Davies was foremost in the 



176 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

fray, leading his command for the fourth time on this 
memorable field. To his men he addressed these stir- 
ring words : " Soldiers of the First Brigade ! I know 
you have not forgotten the example of your brave com- 
rades, who, in past engagements here, were not afraid 
to die in defence of the ' old flag'." 

Custer, the daring, terrible demon that he was in 
battle, pulled off his cap and handed it to his orderly, 
then dashed madly forward in the charge, while his 
yellow locks floated like pennants on the breeze. Pen- 
nington and Elder handled their batteries with great 
agility and success, at times opening huge gaps in the 
serried ranks of the enemy. 

Fired to an almost divine potency, and with a ma- 
jestic madness, this band of heroic troopers shook the 
air with their battle-cry, and dashed forward to meet 
the hitherto exultant foe. 

Ambulances, forges, and cannon, with pack horses 
and mules, non-combatants, and others, all joined to 
swell the mighty tide. Brave hearts grew braver, and 
faltering ones waxed warmer and stronger, until pride 
of country had touched this raging sea of thought and 
emotion, kindling an unconquerable principle, which 
emphatically affirmed every man a hero unto death. 
So swiftly swept forward this tide of animated power 
that the Rebel lines broke in wild dismay before the 
uplifted and firmly-grasped sabres of these unflinching 
veterans, who, feeling that life and country were a»t 
stake, risked them both upon the fearful issue. 

Kilpatrick thus escaped disaster, defeated his pur- 
suers, captured several pieces of the enemy's artillery, 
and presented to the beholders one of the grandest 
scenes ever witnessed in the New World. 




BATTLES FOR THE UNION. yfl 

" By Heaven ! it -was a splendid sight to see, for one 
■who had no friend or brother there." 

No one who looked upon that wonderful panorama, 
can ever forget it. On the great field were riderless 
horses and dying men ; clouds of dust from solid shot 
and bursting shell occasionally obscured the sky; 
broken caissons and upturned ambulances obstructed 
the way, while long lines of cavalry were pressing for- 
ward in the charge, with their drawn sabres glistening 
in the bright sunlight. Far beyond the scene of tu- 
mult were the quiet dark green forests which skirt the 
banks of the Rappahannock. The poet Haverd, in 
his "Scauderberg", has well described the scene ; 

Hark ! the death-denouncing trumpet sounds 
The fatal charge, and shouts proclaim the onset. 
Destruction rushes dreadful to the field 

And bathes itself in blood : havoc let loose 
Now undistinguished, rages all around: 
While Ruin, seated on her dreary throne, 
Sees the plain strewed with subjects truly hers, 

Breathless and cold." 

The Rebel cavalry, undoubtedly ashamed of their 
own conduct and defeat, reorganized their broken 
ranks, and again advanced upon Kilpatrick and Bu- 
ford whose divisions had united to repel the attack. 

For at least two long hours of slaughter these op- 
posing squadrons dashed upon one another over this 
historic field. Charges and counter-charges followed 
in quick succession, and at times the "grey" and the 
" blue" were so confusedly commingled together, that 
it was difficult to conjecture how they could regain 
their appropriate places. Quite a number of prisoners 



178 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

were made on both sides. It was a scene of wild con- 
motion and blood. This carnival continued until late 
at night, when the exhausted and beaten foe sank back 
upon safer grounds to rest, while our victorious braves, 
crowned with undying laurels, gathered up their 
wounded and dead companions, and unmolested, 
crossed the Rappahannock. 

In reflecting upon the successive engagements at 
Brandy Station, the author feels a natural and, I trust, 
a commendable pride when he remembers that in each 
instance he shared the varied fortunes of his regiment 
on this field. 

In the first action, on the twentieth of August, 1862, 
I was a corporal in the front rank of the first squad- 
ron that charged the Confederate cavalry under Stuart 
My horse was wounded in the neck in this charge and 
the pommel of my saddle and canteen were struck 
with bullets. 

On the ninth of June, 1863, being at that time a 
sergeant, I was chief of the first platoon of the first 
battalion that crossed the Rappahannock at Kelly's 
Ford and with my platoon acted as advance guard to 
the column. Accompanied by Lieutenant Estes of 
Kilpatrick's staff, we pushed the Rebel pickets and 
skirmishers back to the Station where we joined the 
regiment in time for the grand charge of Kilpatrick's 
brigade. 

The twelfth of September, a Lieutenant command- 
ing my company, I was again with the first battalion 
that crossed the Rappahannock and was sitting on my 
horse in front of the regiment after its formation for 
a charge when the first shot fired by the Confederate 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. yjQ 

artillery struck our ranks as described in my account 
of the Third Brandy Station. 

On the eleventh of October following, my command 
having been increased to a squadron, I was with the 
battalion commanded by Captain Grinton, and being 
cut off from the corps by the sudden junction of the 
columns of Stuart and Lee, were compelled to cut our 
way through. My command being broken and scat- 
tered in this fight, I acted as a volunteer aid to General 
Davies and in the course of the engagement my horse 
was shot under me. I received a sabre stroke on the 
shoulder, two bullets through my hat, and found after 
the affair was over, that my sabre scabbard had been 
split by a bullet or fragment of a shell. In the even- 
ing of this day General Davies sent Captain Pokeepsie 
of his staff to thank me for the personal services I had 
rendered him at Brandy Station, and to say that I 
should have the next promotion in the Harris Light 
Cavalry. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

MAKTASSAS, OR S E O O UXT ID 

buliIj if*, tj nsr. 

The Opening Scene. — Sigel in the Foreground. — Sharp Skirmish on 
the Twenty-eighth. — Fitz-John Porter's Delay. — Attack on the 
Twenty -ninth. — Bayonet Charge of Grover's Brigade. — Thorough- 
fare Gap Left Open. — The Enemy Re-enforced. — Victory on the 
Twenty-ninth. — Where Was Porter 1 — Pope's Despatch. — Battle of 
the Thirtieth. — Exhausted Troops. — Out of Rations. — Pope Dis- 
couraged. — Our Fdrccs at Centreville. — Personal Experience. — A 
Shell from the Enemy and What it Did. — An Unknown Hero. — 
"Tear off Your Chevrons." — Successful Stand. — Charge of the 
Harris Light Cavalry. 

ON the twenty-ninth of August, 1862, the storm of 
battle again broke over the Plains of Manassas 
and surged furiously along the borders of Bull Run 
Creek and down the Warrenton pike. The figure of 
General Franz Sigel stands out in bold relief against 
the background of battle, the first actor appearing on 
the scene in this drama of war and death. 

The time is daybreak, and the rosy light of early 
dawn, so peaceful and so pure, flushes the sky in 
painful contrast to the scene of strife and bloodshed 
below. 

At noon on the day previous, General Pope had or- 
dered Reno, Kearny, and Hooker to follow Jackson 
who, through the miscarriage of well-laid plans, had 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. \%1 

been allowed to escape in the direction of Centerville. 
McDowell's command, then on the way to Manassas, 
was ordered to march to Centerville, while Porter 
was directed to come forward to Manassas Junction. 
The orders were promptly executed by the various 
commands excepting that of Fitz John Porter, who 
unaccountably on loyal principles, remained inactive 
during the ensuing contest. Kearny drove the enemy 
out of Centreville and in their retreat along the War- 
renton road they encountered the division of King, 
McDowell's advance, marching eastward to intercept 
them. 

A sharp fight took place, terminating to the ad- 
vantage of neither, and at night the contestants 
bivouacked near the battle field. 

On the night of the twenty-eighth, Pope's forces 
were so disposed that twenty-five thousand men under 
McDowell, Sigel, and Reynolds, were ready to attack 
Jackson from the south and west, and the corps of 
Reno, Heintzelman, and Porter, consisting of an equal 
number of troops, were to complete the attack from 
the east. Lee was pushing forward his forces to sup- 
port Jackson at Thoroughfare Gap, and it was neces- 
sary for the Union army to use all possible celerity of 
movement in order to make the attack before the main 
body of the Confederate army under Lee, could come 
up. But this combination failed like many another, 
and during the night King's division fell back towards 
Manassas Junction, at which place Porter's corps had 
recently arrived, and the road to Gainsville and Thor- 
oughfare Gap was thus left open to Jackson. A new 
arrangement of troops became therefore necessary. 



Ig2 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Soon after Sigel's attack at daylight on the twenty- 
ninth, Hcintzelman's two divisions came up and Jack- 
son fell back to the neighborhood of Sudley Springs, 
with his right just south of the Warrenton turnpike. 

Kettell, in his history of the " Great Rebellion," 
describes this part of the battle as follows : — 

" Upon arriving on the field at noon, Pope, seeing 
that Jackson was hard pushed by that portion of the 
Union army which had come into action, sent urgent 
orders to McDowell and Porter to advance rapidly on 
the left, and turn the Confederate right flank. Ac- 
cording to the calculation of General Pope, they ought 
to reach their new positions towards the close of 
the afternoon, and pending their arrival the tired 
troops of Sigel, Heintzelman, and Reno were allowed 
a few hours' rest. Soon after two o'clock p. M., news 
arrived that McDowell would be on the field in a 
couple of hours, and at half past four peremptory or- 
ders were sent to Porter to turn the enemy's rear. 
Supposing that these orders would be fulfilled, Pope> 
soon after five P. M., directed Ileintzelman and Reno 
to re-commence the attack. It was made with great 
energy, Grover's Brigade of Hooker's Division distin- 
guishing itself by a determined bayonet charge which 
broke through two of Jackson's lines. The latter again 
fell back, leaving the battle-field and his dead and 
wounded in the hands of the Federal troops, and at 
sunset, McDowell's troops came into action along the 
Warrenton turnpike. 

By this time, however, the troops of Lee had begun 
to arrive on the field, their progress through Thor- 
oughfare Gap having been ineffectually opposed by 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 183 

Racket's Division of McDowell's Corps, left there for 
the purpose of delaying their march. The Rebel ad- 
vance under Longstreet offered such a determined re- 
sistance to the Union left wing, that the night of the 
twenty-ninth fell on a drawn battle on that portion of 
the field — the National arms having been decidedly 
triumphant on the right." 

But where, during all this time was Fitz John Por- 
ter and his command ? Why did he remain passive 
within sight and sound of the battle, at Manassas 
Junction, disregarding the repeated and imperative 
orders of Pope ? Why did he sit placidly in his tent 
and look out upon the hurrying troops of Longstreet 
hastening to aid Jackson, and yet make no move to 
check their advance, in accordance with his instruc- 
tions ? He said that the enemy was encountered in 
flank in the direction of Gainsville, and that he was 
compelled to fall back towards Manassas. Pope, how 
ever, disbelieved this excuse. " I believed then as I 
am very sure now", said the General in his official re- 
port, " that it was easily practicable for him to have 
turned the right flank of Jackson, and to have fallen 
upon his rear ; that if he had done so, we should have 
gained a decided victory over the army under Jackson, 
before he could have been joined by any of the forces 
of Longstreet, and that the army of General Lee 
would have been so crippled and checked by the de- 
struction of this large force, as to have been no longer 
in condition to prosecute further operations of an 
agressive character." But despite the lethargy of 
Porter and the success of Longstreet in effecting a 
union with Jackson, the advantage of the day's fight 






- J. 



- :: i_ri: . -^~~ _ - \:~- 



_ - -- . :— ~ - 






BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

through Thoroughfare Gap in hourly increasing num- 
bers. Thus the Confederate army w 
by large reinforcements, while the Union troops suf- 
fered proportional depletion from the almost continu- 
ous labors of the previous ten days. Cavalry and ar- 
tillery horses had remained saddled and in harness 
almost without interruption during those ten days, and 
for two days had been without forage. In addition to 
this, the troops were actually suffering for rations. Tell 
egram after telegram had been despatched by General 
Pope for forage, rations, and ammunition. The availa- 
ble force in readiness on the eventful morning of the 
thirtieth were only forty thousand, while the enemy 
confronted us with an army twice as large. Pope had 
been assured that the corps of Franklin and Sumner 
should be hurried forward immediately : but they did 
not arrive. Hour after hour passed by and yet no help 
came for the worn out army of Virginia. 

At last the following dispatch was received on the 
morning of the thirtieth : — 

-- nan . - ;— 5 P. :ML 

T rnmanding Omcer c.~ Tie: 

I have been instructed by General MeCIellan to inform 
you that be will have all the available wagons at Alexandria 
loaded with rations for your troops, and all of the can 
as soon as you will send in a cavalry escort to Alexandria as a 
guard to the train. 

B v-- : sUoDy, 

W. B. FKAXEXTV. 

--imanding 5ix:h Corps. 

••Such a letter." said General Pop>e. "when we 
were fighting the enemy, and Alexandria was swarm- 
ing with troops, needs no comment. 



286 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

" Bad as was the condition of our cavalry, I was in 
no situation to spare troops from the front, nor could 
they have gone to Alexandria and returned within the 
time by which we must have had provisions or fallen 
back in the direction of Washington. Nor do I yet 
see what service cavalry could have rendered, in 
guarding railroad trains." 

But if General Pope was discouraged by this com- 
plication of disaster gradually inclosing him in its 
meshes, he did not sit down and fold his hands in 
idleness. 

Resolutely lie went about re-arranging the tangled 
ends of this sad business. He determined to make 
the best fight possible with his limited means, and en- 
deavor to cripple Lee before the entire southern army 
could arrive on the field. 

As rapidly therefore on the thirtieth as he could 
bring his forces into action lie advanced to the attack, 
and between twelve and two o'clock both wings of the 
Union army were in line of battle. As fast as the 
troops of Lee arrived on the field they were massed 
for an attack on the Union left, and Pope therefore 
strengthened that part of his line. Porter having 
come up at last, in consequence of peremptory orders, 
the Union left was held by McDowell, Porter, and 
Sigel who, despite the swarming masses of the enemy 
hurled against them, made a determined stand. In 
front of Heitzelman and Reno on the center and 
right, the Confederates were in such force that it was 
impossible to re-enforce the Union left until late in 
the afternoon, when Reno's command went to their 
assistance. The left had by this time fallen back a 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. Igf 

half mile and darkness now came between the con- 
tending armies like a black-robed nun petitioning 
peace. 

The right wing of the Union army had not lost an 
inch of ground during the day. Nevertheless this 
army was worsted in its most unequal contest. 

Before the tide of battle ebbed for the day, General 
Pope learned that Franklin's corps was near Centre- 
ville, followed at an interval of four miles by the 
corps of Sumner. 

But his men were too much exhausted to so soon 
renew the battle, and he accordingly fell back across 
Bull Run to the heights of Centreville where an effec- 
tive stand could be made against the enemy. There- 
fore, between the hours of eight and twelve, the Union 
army slowly retired to its new position. 

The Confederates did not attempt pursuit. On the 
morning of the thirty-first, the Union army was con- 
centrated about Centreville, with out-lying bodies on 
the road to Chantilly and Fairfax Court-House. 

That portion of this battle-drama whose scenes oc- 
curred under my own observation and in which I was 
'an actor, I recall with distinctness. 

Forms forever vanished resume once more their 
material outlines and the action of that day again 
comes up with all the vividness of reality. At such 
times the fire seems yet to glow in the ashes of these 
long dead events, and shadowy heroes figure with 
added light on the field of their renown. 

On the eventful thirtieth, our artillery occupied the 

crest of a hill a short distance beyond Bull Run creek, 

the cavalry regiments under Bayard being stationed 

8* 



. =hor~ time before the battle opened, I was sent 
to a distant port of the field to deliver an order. An 

IZL.L -- - -. -- TT.— iir! '/.^ :_;_.-:- T..-r ;.:> -- 
l- I ;-- - " — ~ -'--■ ---:-" " -"■- --"- ~ :.::-- --:" 
- -...- :!.-: ::;.-. :.. . -..■: -:.i: .— :: :~. _• ."'. > 
k twa e d puitenii oaslj, like a doud with veiled li 

I: "-- -;.■: ------ --':-.':. 'rr\~.~- i -" -„. i:_ I v. - 

tmmder-boks of war fell fast and heavy when the 
stoat at length broke over oar heads. I had just 
taken my plaee in the cavalry ranks when a shell from 

-.--. -::.-:--'-. ....- -.~zl.~~- --.: : .: :.-ii- — .':. i . :._• 
and spiteml shriek. One of the horses attached to a 
caisson was in the path of the fiery missile and the 
_r^" ...--...- -;. .:..:-..• '..-.- ~_- - •.--■.:- -. :.:!;-> 
:\~ll :..- :.-."•: T..-; '. -'.-J ---:-'- -: "'-- -"- ~ .'- -•:-:'-. 
ii.1 ll -..-*: -..-.: '-:. . -:.-:".I •.:'.'.:—-.'. .^9 .. ■: -..-:-•'. .:.. 
ulofliiiif, through the startled air and falling with 
destrnctive force among the Union troops. Tins iron 
hail front the guns of the enemy was composed in 
,.:~ : .'.i ;.-.:- .: .:.-.:. i.v; :•:-:;. .: :. ; . '.• ■■. - 
well as the shot and -hell ordinarily used. Our artillery 
soon replied, but from some unexplained cause the 
V.-!'..-- :;'/.;.■■ .:. -;...-. :•..-.:. ;: -,-..- 1..V: .-.•:■• i.v: 
fled in panic before a shot had been fired from the 
msakets of the enemy. Tins battle, like the first 

; H.-. :.ii -':-:.' "":-l ...:.:.-.. -£.:. : -.- -.- .-7 -.- ~ . - 

v ;.;-;>. _•...-: :::.::..-...:. >:. . :/.-. .\s::. : :.' ;..!; 
dictate in order to insure success, had been made by 
Generals Pope and MeDowelL 






BATTLZS FOB THE V 

A: this ersbs of affairs, the cavalry under Bayard 
and Kilpatriek were ordered to the rear to stem, if 

— ible. the tide of retreat, but the effort was well 
nigh fruitier B jinient after regime:. ■ 1 by 

in one eontinuons and aim si lenstleaB A 

is heard to go np from the Confederate ranks 
i Si ilry charged us, and though we re- 

turned the charge it did not stop the panic which had 
taken j. a of onr troops. 

One of its eanses was undoubtedly the supposition 
that the enemy a dank movement on 

our left. In forry-five minutes from the beginning of 
the battle . this part of our army was in full retr 
but the determined stand made by Heintzelman and 
also one or two heroic attempts to atam the backward 

- _ our forces from utter rout and 

possible capture. 

Asa - Union bar: - re captured 

the enemy, they were turned upon us, in addition to 
their own guns, and afterwards, on came Smart in a 
headlong charge, with one of those hideous yells pecu- 
liar to the Southern chivalry. With thousands of 
others who were rapidly retiring. I had re- 
Bull Run creek when my n. was arrested 
mounted officer who sprang out from the mass of 

_ men and waving Ida a his head called 

on e . irrespective of regiment, to rally around 

him and face the foe. He wore no golden leaf, no 

- appealing to officers higher in 

maud than himself, who. mix the erv 

- manner. 

men: : rung up to the pitch of heroism, and his 



190 BATTL. TEE UNION. 

-ence "was like an inspiration a? he stood ontside 
the mass, a mark for the bullets of the enemy. 

I halted, filled -with admiration for so noble an ex- 
ample of valor, and then rode slowly towards him. 
5 ing me. he galloped forward to meet me and asked 
Jd in making a stand against the enemy. 

•• ~ rg ' said he. t; you are just in time. As 

you are mounted, you can be of great service in rally- 
ing these men for a stand on this ground." 

"lieutenant," I replied. •• they will not listen to 
the wearer of these chevrons." 

•• Tear off your chevrons," said this unknown hero, 
— •• the infantry will not know you from a field offi- 
cer — and get as many men to turn their muskets to 
the front as you can." 

" Lieutenant." I replied, " I will do all I can to help 
you," and the insignia of non-commissioned rank was 
immediately stripped from my sleeves. 

I put myself under his command and fought with 
liira until he gave the order to retire. TVhile he was 
talking with me he was at the same time calling on 
the men to make a stand, telling them they could 
easily hold the position. He seemed to take in the 
situation at a glance. 

The enemy having advanced to the first crest of 
hills, were throwing their infantry forward with full 
force, and with the three thousand or more men who 
rallied around this heroic officer, a stand was made 
on the rising ground north of Bull Run from which 
the advance of the enemy was opposed. We held 
this position for half an hour, which gave considerable 
time for re-organization. 






BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 191 

While riding along the line, helping my unknown 
superior as best I could, my horse was shot under me, 
—the first experience of this kind which had befallen 

me. 

Just as the disaster was occurring which culminated 
in retreat, General McDowell on his white horse, gal- 
loped up to the guns behind which Heintzelman was 
blazing destruction on the Confederates. Alighting 
from his horse he sighted the guns and gave a per- 
sonal superintendence to this part of the action. An 
artillery captain, standing by his battery while his 
horses were shot down, his pieces in part disabled, 
and the infantry deserting him, shed tears in conse- 
quence. 

" You need not feel badly over this affair," said 
the General, " General McDowell is responsible for 
this misfortune. Stand by your guns as long as you 
can. If the General is blamed, your bravery will be 

praised." 

Was there a touch of irony in this remark which 
met in advance the grumblings and questionings 
of the future ? Was it the sarcasm of a man who, 
having done his utmost, could not yet prevent dis- 
aster and who knew that an unthinking public some- 
times measured loyalty by success ? 

Later in the day our regiment— the " Harris Light 
Cavalry "—lost a squadron. Most of them were 

killed. 

In the deepening twilight we charged the enemy just 
as they were forming for a similar attack on us. They 
were compelled to halt, and Pope was thus enabled 
to discover their position and arrange for the next 
dav's defense. 



292 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

On the night of the thirtieth, the enemy occupied 
the battle-field, and buried the dead of both armies. 
Thus once more, Bull Run ran red with patriot blood 
and witnessed the retreat of the Union battalions. 
By what strange fatality General Pope was allowed 
to struggle on alone against an army twice the size 
of the Federal force, cannot be satisfactorily explain- 
ed. One is almost tempted to believe, with astrolo- 
gists, that baleful stars sometimes preside with malign 
influence over the destinies of battles, as they are 
said to do over individuals and nations. 



CHAPTER XX. 

OHANTILiLT. 

Union Troops on the Defensive.— Historic Chantilly.— Pope at Fair, 
fax Court-House.— Stonewall Jackson's Attack.— The Battle of the 
Sky.— Furious Charges.— The Enemy Repulsed.— Death of Stevens 
and Kearny.— The March to Washington.— Pope Resigns— Porter 
Cashiered.— Tribute to Kearny. 

THE Union army under General Pope was allowed 
little respite from its almost continuous fighting 
during the late summer and early autumn days of 
1862. 

After the tide of war had surged back from the 
field of Bull Run, leaving its course strewn with 
fallen heroes, and the last days of August had gone 
out in blood, the battle-line was again formed at 
Chantilly. Chantilly is northwest from Fairfax Court- 
House and Centreville, and is not more than ten miles 
south of the station of Thornton on the Loudon and 
Hampshire Railway. On the thirty-first of August, 
1862, the brave Army of Virginia rested behind its^ 
intrenchments at Centreville, while a strong force was 
stationed at Chantilly under Hooker, Reno, and Mc- 
Dowell. On September first the united strength of 
the Armies of the Potomac and Virginia, was reported 
by the commanding officers at less than sixty thousand. 



194 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

General Pope, believing this force too small for offen- 
sive operations, determined to remain on the defen- 
sive and await further developments from the enemy. 

As the Confederates were making demonstrations 
for the purpose of turning the Union right, and were 
also advancing northward, General Pope fell slowly 
back to Fairfax Court-House, ordering the force at 
Chantilly to remain on the defensive at that point. 

Just as the sun was setting on the first of Septem- 
ber, and while a furious thunder-storm was in progress, 
Stonewall Jackson, the great flanker, made a sudden 
descent on the Union forces at Chantilly — the corps 
of A. P. Hill and Ewell making the attack. The 
battle of the storm and the battle of the plain raged 
in concert, and the thunder-crash above drowned the. 
roar of artillery below. 

Gallantly our boys under Reno advanced to the 
attack and impetuously drove back the foe. At 
all points the enemy met with repulse. Brigadier 
General Isaac J. Stevens, while leading a charge with 
the second division under Reno, was shot dead at the 
head of his troops. 

His command, thrown into confusion, uncovered 
the first division of Reno, which was also demoralized 
and broken. 

At this crisis of affairs General Kearny, leading 
one of Heintzelman's divisions, advanced to the res- 
cue and with a terrific charge drove the Confederates 
from the field. The defeated ranks of the enemy re- 
coiled and fled before this onset of the Union troops ; 
but it cost the country the life of one of its bravest 
officers ; for when the smoke lifted and the storm 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. \ 95 

ceased raging, victory unfurled her flag over the life- 
less form of Philip Kearny. His spirit had gone 
outward, like that of Napoleon at Helena, amid a war 
of elements ; — and the thunder rolled his requiem. 

It was dark when the battle ended, and on the 
next morning General Pope's whole command was 
massed behind Difficult Creek, between Flint Hill and 
Alexandria turnpike. At noon of that day, in ac- 
cordance with orders from General Halleck, they 
marched to Washington, at which place they arrived 
in good order on the evening of the third. Here 
General Pope, at his own request, was relieved of his 
command and at the same time preferred charges of 
insubordination and negligence against General Por- 
ter, on which the latter officer was court-marshaled 
and cashiered. 

No more intrepid or accomplished officers, no hearts 
more loyal to our sacred cause, ever died on glory's 
field than Major-General Philip Kearny and Briga- 
dier-General Stevens. 

I cannot forego the insertion here of the following 
beautiful tribute to the memory of our Kearny. It 
always excites in me the noblest emotions, and will, I 
think, afford as much pleasure to my readers as it 
has to myself: 

" Our country bleeds 
With blows her own hands strike. He starts, he heeds 
Her cries for succor. In a foreign land 
He dwells ; his bowers with luxury's pinions fanned, 
His cup with roses crowned. He dashes down 
The cup, he leaves the bowers ; he flies to aid 
His native land. Out leaps his patriot blade 1 
Quick to the van he darts. Again the frown 



19G BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

Of strife bends blackening ; once again hi* ear 

War's furious trump with stern delight drinks in; 

Again the Battle-Bolt in red career ! 

Again the flood, the frenzy, and the din ! 

At tottering Williamsburg his granite front 
Bears -without shock the battle's fiercest brunt. 
So have Ave seen the crag beat back the blast, 
So has the shore the surges backward cast. 
Behind his rock the shattered ranks reform; 
Forward, still forward, until dark defeat 
Burns to bright victory ! 

% Fame commands 
The song ; we yield it gladly ; but the glow 
Fades as we sing. The dire, the fatal blow 
Fell, fell at last. Full, full in deadliest front 
Leading his legions, leading as his wont, 
The bullet wafts him to his mortal goal ! 

And not alone War's thunders saw him die ; 
Amid the glare, the rushing, and the roll, 

Glared, crashed, the grand dread battle of the sky; 
There on two pinions, — "War's and Storm's, — he soared, 
Flight how majestic! up! His dirge was roared, 
Not warbled, and his pall was smoke and cloud ; 

Flowers of red shot, red lightnings strewed his bier, 
And night, black night, the mourner. 
******** 

Now farewell, 
O hero ! In our Glory's Pantheon 
Thy name will shine, a name immortal won 
By deeds immortal ! In our heart's deep heart 
Thy statued fame, that never shall depart, 
Shall tower, the loftier as Time fleets, and show 
How Heaven can sometimes plant its Titans here below." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The Enemy Concentrating on Antietam Creek. — Stonewall Jackson 
Has the Left. — Battle at Daybreak. — The Contested Cornfield. — 
Hooker Wounded. — Furious Struggle. — Fate of the Thirty-Fourth 
New York. — War's Fierce Tug. — Franklin and Fresh Troops. — 
Four Times Lost and Won. — Burnside Takes the Bridge. — Union 
Troops Carry the Hill and are Driven Back. — McClellan Sends 
Aid. — A Moment when Events Hang in the Balance. — " The 
Bridge ! — Always the Bridge !" — McClellan's Star in the Ascendant. 

THE dawn of September seventeenth, 1862, witnessed 
the opening scene of one of the bloodiest battles 
of our civil war. For two days previous to that time 
the Confederate army, under Lee, had been concen- 
trating on the low range of hills near Antietam Creek 
and in the immediate vicinity of the little town of 
Sharpsburg. 

General Burnside on the fourteenth had carried 
Turner's Gap and General Franklin had occupied 
Crampton's Gap on the same day, thus obtaining pos- 
session of the mountain range and its gates into the 
valley ; the corps of Sumner, Hooker, and Mansfield 
had been ordered to follow the Confederate army, re- 
tiring in the direction of Sharpsburg. The forces of 
the enemy, under cover of a mass of woods, were dis- 
posed in two lines six miles long, having Antietam 
creek in their front. Three bridges at short intervals 



198 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

crossed the creek in front of the battle line, leading 
respectively to Hagerstown, Shepardstown, and Wil- 
liamsport. 

Stonewall Jackson having arrived from Harper's 
Ferry on the sixteenth, held the left of the Confeder- 
ate line, D. H. Hill's division had the center and 
Longstreet's Corps occupied the right. 

About sixty guns had been placed in position to 
command the Antietam bridge by which the Union 
troops advanced. 

Hooker was ordered to cross on the right and if 
possible flank the enemy's left, while Sumner, Frank- 
lin, and Mansfield were to sustain the attack of 
Hooker. Burnside, on the left, was to carry by storm 
the lower bridge of Antietam Creek, turn the Rebel 
flank, and cut off his retreat, while the principal work 
in the center was left to the batteries. 

At daybreak on the seventeenth the bloody battle 
commenced. Rickett's batteries under Hooker opened 
fire on the enemy and Meade's infantry made the at- 
tack. The action very soon became severe and raged 
furiously, with destructive results. The battle-ground 
was a field of ploughed land with a cornfield at the 
rear bordered by a mass of w r oods. 

At the end of half an hour the fire of the enemy 
decreased and Meade perceiving that the Confederate 
line wavered, rushed forward with his Pennsylvanians, 
the boys cheering as they ran. The enemy was 
pushed to the shelter of the woods before the over- 
whelming onslaught of the Pennsylvania troops, leav- 
ing the field strewn with large numbers of the dead 
and wounded. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^99 

As the conquering Union line swept up to the wood, 
a tempest of fire was poured upon their advancing 
ranks from fresh Confederate troops concealed in the 
forest. The line wavered a moment and closing up 
its broken ranks retired. The Rebels now rushed 
wildly out from their concealed position and with 
yells like demons re-gained the ground just lost by 
their comrades. Hooker sent a brigade to stem this 
adverse wave of war, but it was not enough. The 
brigade of Hartstuff then advanced at the double- 
quick and rapidly formed in battle line on a ridge in 
the cornfield — a position which they held until their 
General was wounded. 

Rickett's division and part of Mansfield's corps 
had fallen back, the General commanding Mans- 
field's corps having been carried from the field mor- 
tally wounded. But Doubleday's guns enabled the 
left to stand firm and hold its ground. Crawford and 
Gordon, commanding Mansfield's remaining brigades, 
were now ordered to advance, and the entire line was 
concentrated upon a point of woods to the right of 
the cornfield, which, if taken, would give to the 
Union forces the key to the position. 

Hooker, leading the advance, received at this crisis, 
a rifle-shot in his foot. 

For four hours the battle had raged with bloody 
fury, and now, at nine o'clock, General Sumner ar- 
rived and took command. Hooker's right and the 
two brigades of Mansfield were still fresh, and Sedg- 
wick's division moved forward in advance to support 
Crawford and Gordon. The enemy was also re-in- 
forced and preparations to renew the struggle with 



200 BATTLES FOR THE UNION.. 

greater intensity, were made. Richardson and French 
had the left while Sedgwick, moving in columns of di- 
vision in the rear, deployed and advanced in line over 
the cornfield. Between his force and the nearest di- 
vision the space was so broad and the danger of be- 
ing flanked so imminent that he executed a manoeuvre 
to prevent it by ordering the Thirty-fourth New York 
to move by the left flank — thus extending his front 
to its utmost limits. The movement was performed 
under a fire so scathing that the regiment gave way, 
half their officers were killed or wounded, their colors 
were shot to pieces, the color-sergeant killed and 
every one of their color-guard wounded. Only thirty^ 
two out of all the brave men of the regiment who en- 
tered that baptism of fire for the sake of country, 
could ever afterwards be got together. Into the 
fierce flame of this conflict went the Fifteenth Massa- 
chusetts with seventeen officers and six hundred men. 
It came out with six officers and one hundred and 
thirty-four men. Sedgwick being wounded, General 
Howard assumed command and endeavored to restore 
order, but in vain. " General Sumner ordered the 
line to be re-formed under fire ; but the test was too 
severe for volunteer troops. Sumner himself at- 
tempted to arrest the disorder but to little purpose. 
As it seemed impossible to hold the position, Sumner 
withdrew the division to the rear and once more the 
cornfield was abandoned to the enemy. At the same 
moment the enemy perceiving his advantage, came for- 
ward with fresh troops." One o'clock had arrived 
and the outlook was discouraging. The list of officers 
killed and wounded was positively alarming. Hook- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 201 

er's and Mansfield's troops were exhausted with the 
trying contest and Richardson was severely wounded 
while leading his men in the fray. 

General Meagher was in the same plight, the am- 
munition for some of the guns had entirely given out, 
though the artillery in our front was yet keeping up 
its fire with vigor. Doubleday with his guns still 
held the right firmly. The officers of the various 
commands were confident of being able to hold their 
ground, but considered an advance impossible. 

Fortunately the enemy's batteries seemed too much 
disabled to take the offensive and their troops too 
much exhausted for an attack. 

The timely arrival of Franklin with fresh troops 
changed the complexion of affairs. Slocum advanced 
along the hill slopes, on the heights of which the 
enemy was posted, and Smith with his Maine and Ver- 
mont regiments went forward on the run, re-took the 
hotly-contested corn-field and charged the woods in 
gallant style, routing the foe in the space of ten 
minutes. 

Four times had this ground been lost and won, but 
at last it remained in possession of the Union forces. 

On the left, Burnside, after a sharp engagement 
took the stone bridge, and the enemy retiring to some 
hill-tops beyond, placed their batteries in position to 
command the Union troops. 

At four o'clock Burnside received orders from Mc- 
Clellan to carry the batteries in his front at all haz- 
ards, while Franklin sent forward his artillery to aid 
Burnside in obtaining a position on the Sharpsburg 
road, in the rear of the enemy. General Burnside 



202 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

had sixteen thousand men to handle, in this move' 
ment. Rapidly and with determined front they 
pressed forward directly up the hill in range of the 
most dangerous batteries of the enemy. The guns 
of Franklin were placed in the field on the other side, 
at about the same time, and the battle opened from 
all sides with increased activity. The guns of Burn- 
side held the enemy's batteries in check, and the in- 
fantry columns swept up the hill to meet the enemy 
on its crest. A thick cloud of dust enveloped the 
spot where the Rebel guns were planted and a furious 
struggle now ensued. 

With a shout the Union troops rush forward and 
carry the hill. But on the ridge above them an- 
other Confederate battle-line comes in view. They 
move rapidly down upon our troops but are met firmly 
by the brigades of Burnside in heavy column. The 
enemy halts, intimidated ; but at this critical moment 
A. P. Hill arrives on the ground from Harper's Ferry 
and with his fresh troops reenforces the Confederates. 
A newspaper correspondent describes this part oi 
the scene with dramatic power. 

" The enemy's left gives way and scatters over the 
field, the rest stand fast and fire. More infantry 
comes up. Burnside is outnumbered, flanked, com- 
pelled to yield the hill he took so bravely. His po- 
sition is no longer one of attack ; he defends himself 
with unfaltering firmness, but he sends to McClellan 
for help. McClellan's field-glass for the last half hour 
has seldom been turned away from the left. He sees 
clearly enough that Burnside is pressed — needs no 
messenger to tell him that. His face grows darker 



BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 203 

with anxious thought. Looking down into the valley 
where fifteen thousand troops are lying he turns a 
half-questioning look on Fitz-John Porter who stands 
by his side, gravely scanning the field. They are 
Porter's troops below, are fresh, and only impatient 
to share in this fight. But Porter slowly shakes his 
head, and one may believe that the same thought is 
passing through the minds of both Generals. ' They 
are the only reserves of the army ; they cannot be 
spared.' McClellan re-mounts his horse, and with 
Porter and a dozen officers of his staff, rides away to 
the left in Burnside's direction. 

" Sykes meets them on the road — a good soldier 
whose opinion is worth taking. The three Generals 
talk briefly together. It is easy to see that the mo- 
ment has come when everything may turn on one 
order given or withheld, when the history of the bat- 
tle is only to be written in the thoughts and purposes 
and words of the General. Burnside's messenger rides 
tip. His message is : ' I want troops and guns ; if you 
do not send them, I cannot hold my position half an 
hour.' McClellan's only answer for the moment is 
a glance at the western sky. Then he turns and 
speaks very slowly ; * Tell General Burnside this is 
the battle of the war. He must hold his ground till 
dark at any cost. I will send him Miller's battery. 
I can do nothing more. I have no infantry.' Then 
as the messenger was riding away he called him back. 
' Tell him if he cannot hold his ground, then the 
bridge to the last man ! — always the bridge ! If the 
bridge is lost, all is lost.' " 

General Morrell, however, was sent to the aid of 



204 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Burnside with five thousand men. But at this crisis 
of affairs the fire of the Confederates dbd away, the 
sun went down and darkness brought to a close the 
tumultous conflict of the day. Burnside held the 
bridge and Hooker, Sumner, and Franklin occupied 
all the vantage ground gained during the day. A 
renewal of the fight was anticipated for the morrow, 
but McClellan failed to give the expected order. On 
the eighteenth, the Union army rested. 

On the morning of the nineteenth, when McClellan 
had determined to renew the attack he discovered that 
Lee had withdrawn across the Potomac and with his 
army once more occupied Virginia soil. 

The battle of Antietam freed Maryland from Con- 
federate troops and was considered a Union victory. 
It was, perhaps, a questionable victory but in contrast 
with the almost continuous reverses previous to that 
time, it looked positively bright. The colors of Mc- 
Clellan which had trailed in the dust at the disastrous 
ending of the Peninsular Campaign, were once more 
flying high in the popular view, and had he pressed 
home this reaction in his favor by straightforward 
action instead of wasting the opportunity in tempo- 
rizing delays, he might have been re-instated as the 
army's beloved commander and again surrounded 
by his old atmosphere of enthusiastic admiration. 

But the golden opportunity was allowed to slip by, 
unimproved. To many a Northern hearth-stone the 
battle of Antietam brought desolation and death, but 
on the book of National remembrance are inscribed 
the names of those who here fought and fell in 
liberty's cause; by whose death the Nation garnered 
a glorious harvest. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

oorhstth:. 

Topography of the Battle-ground. — The Enemy Marching upon 
Corinth. — Price and Van Dorn Unite their Forces. — Three Tiers of 
Earthworks. — Preliminary Battle of the Third. — Generalship of 
Rosecrans. — Battle of the Fourth. — Two Hours of Hot Work. — 
Forts Richardson and Robinett. — Price Driven Back. — Desperate 
Charge of Van Dorn. — A Forlorn Hope. — Colonel Rogers. — The 
Enemy Driven — Confusion and Flight: — Heaps of Slain. — The 
Handkerchief Flags. — " For God's Sake Spare us !" — Pursuit of the 
Foe. — Captured Spoils. — West Tenacssee Safe. 

ABOUT seventy miles south-east of Memphis on the 
Mississippi river ? near the Tennessee state line, lies 
the village of Corinth, renowned as the field where 
the Confederate Generals Price and Van Dorn at the 
head of forty thousand troops, met half that number 
in battle array and were hurled back in defeat and 
rout, their colors trailing in the dust. 

Corinth is a strong strategic point, located in a 
branch of the Appalachian range of mountains, at 
the Junction of the " Memphis and Charleston," and 
" Mobile and Ohio " railroads, which communicate 
with the Atlantic seaboard on one side and the Gulf 
shore on the other. 

General Rosecrans, in command of our forces at 
Corinth, had been advised of the contemplated attack 
of the Confederates and in anticipation of it began 
erecting a new line of earthworks. The combined 



206 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Rebel forces marching upon Corinth, September 
thirtieth, 1862, encountered the advance of Ogleby 
thrown forward by Rosecrans on the Che walla road 
with the design of falling back and thus leading the 
enemy under the heavy guns of Corinth. Ogleby 
resisted the attack of the enemy's advance very 
firmly and McArthur and Davies were ordered for- 
ward to his support. On the third of October these 
brigades were pushed back by the increased force of 
the enemy with the loss of General Hackelman killed 
and Ogleby wounded. 

General Rosecrans discovered that Price, Lovell, 
and Van Dorn had united their armies for an attack, 
with the design of cutting off his communications 
and crushing his small force before reinforcements 
could arrive. 

Beauregard, during his occupancy of the place 
earlier in the war, had built extensive fortifications 
to resist the Union advance under Halleck, and when 
Halleck occupied Corinth he also had erected works, 
not so extensive as the original fortifications. Gene- 
ral Rosecrans now constructed a third line, the others 
being too large for his small force. Four redoubts 
covered the approaches to Corinth, while batteries 
were placed in position, to sweep with their fire the 
entire space in front of our lines. General Hamilton 
held the extreme right of the Union army, and during 
the night of October third, a new five-gun battery had 
been placed on his left which commanded the Bolivar 
road. Davies occupied the center and McKean held 
the left, while three regiments under Colonel Oliver 
were sent forward on the Chewalla road from whence 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £07 

the Confederates were advancing. The preliminary 
battle took place on October third, beginning about 
seven and a half o'clock in the morning. 

General Rosecrans, in order to develop the strength 
of the enemy, advanced his troops down the road as 
the Confederates came up and then retired behind his 
works, his batteries commanding their approach. 

The Union troops were hotly assailed, and by one 
o'clock in the afternoon it became evident that the at- 
tack was no feint, as General Rosecrans had at first 
supposed, but that no less a prize than Corinth with all 
its stores, was the object in view. The Union troops 
were accordingly disposed so as to make the best re- 
sistance, the afternoon being consumed by these ar- 
rangements, varied with more or less fighting. Night 
compelled a cessation of hostilities, and under cover 
of the darkness a Rebel battery was placed in front of 
their line, only two hundred yards distant from Fort 
Robinett in our center. 

The battle was re-opened at three o'clock on the 
morning of October fourth, by this battery. But our 
guns did not reply until day-break. 

The village of Corinth was startled from sleep by 
exploding shells in streets and dwellings and a sud- 
den stampede of teamsters, sutlers, and non-combat- 
ants ensued. Fort Williams on a commanding height 
with its twenty pound Parrot guns soon silenced the 
Rebel battery, whose guns were dragged away and 
captured. Very soon the action of the batteries be- 
came general, and the air was full of bursting shells. 
At about half past nine in the morning heavy masses 
of the enemy under Price, with gleaming bayonets, 



208 BATTLES FOR TIIE UNION. 

emerged from the woods east of the railroad and 
moved up the Bolivar road, towards the Union batte- 
ries. Steadily and with brave front the host advanced 
in column of divisions, Price holding the left and Van 
Dorn the right. As they swept onward in the face of 
the certain destruction awaiting them, the huge living 
mass expanded into long lines like two great arms ex- 
tending to crush the bristling batteries in front. But 
now they are within range of the Federal guns and a 
great blaze of shot cuts and tears their ranks. But 
the gaps instantly close up and with desperate deter- 
mination they sweep up the crest, returning the Union 
fire so vigorously that the division of Davies breaks in 
disorder. Pushing this momentary advantage, the 
Confederates rush through the opening thus made and 
capture the house which Rosecrans occupied as head- 
quarters. Rosecrans, whose eye has never for a mo- 
ment left the struggling mass below, sees with a start 
of dismay, the division of Davies break, and galloping 
headlong to the broken line, he rallies the troops in 
person. The dead and the dying in the enemy's ranks 
fall like leaves in autumn, thickly strewing the ground, 
but the living never falter. " Seemingly insensible to 
fear or infuriated by passion, they marched steadily 
to death with necks bent downward, and faces averted 
like men striving to protect themselves against a driv- 
ing storm of hail." 

In a moment after Davies' division gave way, the fire 
of the enemy was pouring into the public square of 
Corinth, and Hamilton's veterans fell back before their 
impetuous advance. With a wild yell they rushed on 
Fort Richardson only to be enveloped in a sheet of 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 209 

flame from the guns of the battery, and when the cloud 
of smoke lifted none save the dead and the dying were 
seen. But with the fury of demons and the madness 
of men in despair they re-form and charge the fort. 
Richardson falls at his battery and the Rebels are leap- 
ing over its ramparts, when suddenly the Fifty-sixth 
Illinois spring from a ravine near by and delivering a 
close volley of fire, charge the enemy impetuously and 
recover the lost ground. Hamilton also gives the 
order to charge, and his line sweeps forward, complet- 
ing the Rebel repulse, and sending them in utter dis- 
order to the woods. It is said that such a shout of 
victory went up then from the throats of the Union 
boys, as was never heard in Corinth before. Van Dorn 
on the Confederate left heard the shout and to him it 
sounded like the knell of doom. Van Dorn's advance 
had been much slower than that of Price owing to the 
difficulties encountered on the way — being obliged 
to march through ravines, thickets, and abattis. 
Their attack was designed to be simultaneous, but ow- 
ing to these obstructions, Price breasted the full fury 
of the storm from our batteries, alone, and his defeat 
was accomplished before Van Dorn was in line. 

Van Dorn having advanced in front of Fort Robi- 
nett, realized his difficult situation. A deadly enfilad- 
ing fire had swept his ranks from Forts Robinett and 
Williams, but unmindful of the slaughter, he had 
pressed on until directly in his path stood Fort Robi- 
nett. Everything depended on his carrying the works. 
Van Dorn determined at once to make the attempt 
though unaided and alone. It was a desperate resolve 
and was executed with sublime bravery. Colonel Rog- 



210 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

ers at the head of his Texan and Mississippi troops 
moved forward on Fort Robinett. Immediately its 
Parrot guns flashed their iron anger in destructive 
discharges of shot which raked the ranks of the en- 
emy. The guns of Fort Williams also opened fire 
upon them, and as they advanced to close range the 
carnage was awful. Their ranks were rent and torn, 
but instantly closing up they pressed on, urged by the 
clarion voice of Rogers, at their head, shouting, " for- 
ward." At last the ditch in front of the position 
was reached, and pausing for one moment on its brink, 
Rogers waved the Rebel flag in his left hand and 
holding a revolver in his right while he still shouted 
' forward ! ' sprang over the ditch and rushing up the 
slope planted his banner on the ramparts of the Fort. 
The next moment he fell headlong into the ditch shot 
dead, followed by five brave Texans who never left his 
side and who shared his fate. Just behind the ridge 
the Ohio troops were lying flat on their faces, reserv- 
ing their fire until the enemy came within short range, 
when they sprang up and delivered six sharp volleys 
with destructive effect. The front line of the enemy 
now fell back upon their supports who rushed forward 
with desperate determination into the hottest of the 
fight. The Sixty-third Ohio encountered them at this 
point and a hand to hand struggle ensued. Bayonets 
and clubbed muskets were used in the fearful contest, 
and the yells and curses and demoniac uproar were hid- 
eous. At length the enemy's line gave way, and they 
fled in terror and dismay before our troops, flinging 
aside their arms as they ran. Many of them tied their 
handkerchiefs upon sticks, shouting to " spare them 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 211 

for God's sake ! " The abattis of Fort Robinett was 
full of them and over two hundred of them were taken 
within an area of a hundred yards. More than twice 
that number fell in the frightful assault upon Fort Rob- 
inett. Fifty-six of their dead were heaped together in 
front of that redoubt, belonging principally to the Sec- 
ond Texas and Fourth Mississippi. " They were bur- 
ied in one pit : but their brave general sleeps alone : 
our own noble fellows testifying their respect by round- 
ing his grave smoothly, and marking his resting place.' , 

The Twenty-seventh Ohio and Eleventh Missouri 
went in pursuit of the flying foe, chasing them back 
to their cover of woods. 

The battle had lasted two hours — beginning at nine 
in the morning and the pursuit commencing at eleven 
o'clock. 

" A great shout went up all over Corinth. The 
battle was a shock. * * * The pursuit 
of the beaten foe was terrible. Sheets of flame 
blazed through the forest. Huge trunks were shat- 
tered by crashing shells. You may track the flying 
conflict for miles by scarified trees, broken branches, 
twisted gun-barrels and shattered stocks, blood- 
stained garments and mats of human hair, which lie 
on the ground where men died ; hillocks which mark 
ditches where dead Rebels were covered, and smoothly 
rounded graves where slaughtered patriots were ten- 
derly buried." 

Over two thousand of our own soldiers had fallen, 
while six thousand of the enemy went to their death 
on that red field. 

Two thousand two hundred and forty-eight priso- 
9* 



212 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

ners were captured, also two pieces of artillery, four- 
teen stand of colors and over three thousand small 
arms. As Rosecrans, after the battle, rode along the 
line, he was greeted with thundering cheers. He be- 
gan to be looked upon as invincible. Victory hovered 
over his banners wherever he went, and he was affec- 
tionately nick-named " Old Rosy." 

The fields around Corinth were frightful with the 
ddbris of battle, and for weeks the place could be 
scented miles away. 

On the morning after the battle, McPherson, hav- 
ing arrived at Corinth with a fresh brigade, went in 
pursuit of the retreating foe ; but though narrowly 
escaping destruction in the forks of the Hatchie, they 
succeeded at last in eluding the vigilance of our 
troops and getting away. The battle of Corinth 
placed West Tennessee securely in the hands of the 
Federal Government, and won for General Rosecrans 
fresh and undying laurels. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FREDBR IOKSBURG. 

Burnside in Command of the Army of the Potomac. — The Advance 
to Fredericksburg. — Surrender of the City Refused. — Confederate 
and Union Cavalry Raids.— Capture of Rebel Picket-Posts. — Ex. 

. odus of Citizens from Fredericksburg. — Delay In Laying Pontoons. 
— The Seventh Michigan Crossing the River under a Murderous 
Fire. — Death of a Massachusetts Chaplain. — General Gibbon Opens 
the Battle. — Desperate Fighting. — Terrific Charge of Meade's Di- 
vision. — The Hillside Steewn with the Dead. — Death of Bayard. — 
Night after the Battle.— Heart-rending Scenes. — Termination of the 
Campaign of 1862. 

GENERAL McCLELLAN'S failure to grasp the 
fruits of victory after the battle of Antietam, led 
to his removal and the appointment of General Am 
brose E. Burnside to the command of the Army of 
the Potomac. 

General Burnside accepted his new position with 
great reluctance and unfeigned self-distrust, and only 
as a matter of obedience to orders. This change of 
the commanding officer, deleterious and dangerous as 
it might be upon the morale of the. army, was never- 
theless considered necessary and expedient. 

Having secured by strategy the principal gaps of 
Blue Ridge, which had been occupied by the enemy 
since their advance into the Valley, General Burnside 
began to make preparations to move his army to 
Fredericksburg, that point being in the direct line 



214 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

from Washington to Richmond. To mask, as long 
as possible, his real design, he threatened an attack 
upon Gordonsville, but General Lee, by the aid of his 
emissaries and raiders, soon ascertained his plans, 
and moving his army across the Blue Ridge, through 
the western passes, he took his position on the south 
bank of the Rappahannock, to prevent our crossing. 

General Burnside halted at Warrenton, a beautiful 
village of Fauquier county, and here a few days were 
consumed in effecting the changes incident upon the 
advent of a new commander, and on the fourteenth, 
the Army of the Potomac was constituted into three 
grand divisions, to be commanded respectively by 
Generals Sumner, Franklin, and Hooker. The follow- 
ing day Warrenton was abandoned and the army 
swept on towards the Rappahannock. 

Two days' march brought our advance to Falmouth, 
and on the twenty-first, General Patrick, our Provost- 
Marshal-General, was directed to repair to Freder- 
icksburg under a flag of truce, and request the sur- 
render of the city. The authorities replied that while 
its buildings and streets would no longer be used by 
Rebel sharp-shooters to annoy our forces across the 
river, its occupation by Yankee troops would be re- 
sisted to the last. Had the means of crossing the 
river been at hand, General Burnside would have 
made hostile demonstrations at once ; but through 
some misunderstanding between himself and General 
Halleck, at Washington, the pontoons were not in 
readiness. 

On the twenty-eighth of November a strong force 
of Rebel cavalry under General Wade Hampton, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 215 

dashed" across the river at some of the upper fords, 
raided up around Dumfries and the Occoquan, cap- 
tured several prisoners and wagons and returned to 
their side of the river without loss. As a sort of off- 
set to this, on the twenty-ninth General Julius Stahl, 
who commanded a brigade of cavalry at Fairfax 
Court House, commenced an expedition of great dar- 
ing and success, to the Shenandoah Valley. Having 
advanced to Snicker's Gap, in the Blue Ridge, a 
strong Rebel picket-post was captured by our van- 
guard Pressing forward on the main thoroughfare, 
they soon reached the Shenandoah River, and were 
not a little annoyed by Rebel carbineers, hidden be- 
hind old buildings across the stream. Captain Abram 
H. Krom, commanding a detachment of the Fifth 
New York Cavalry, and leading the advance, dashed 
ucross the river, though deep and "the current swift, 
closely followed by his men. On reaching the oppo- 
site bank a charge was ordered, and executed m so 
gallant a manner that several Rebels were made 
prisoners, and the remainder of the squad was driven 
away at a break-neck speed. Our men pursued them 
in a scrambling race for nearly three miles, when they 
came upon a Rebel camp, which was attacked in a 
furious manner. Our boys made music enough for a 
brigade, though only a squadron was at hand. 

The enemy attempted a defence but utterly failed. 
Re-inforcements coming to our aid, the Rebels were 
thoroughly beaten and driven away, leaving in our 
hands one captain, two lieutenants, thirty-two privates, 
one stand of colors, and several wagons and ambu- 
lances. Most of these were laden with booty taken 



216 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

by White's guerrillas, in a recent raid into Poolesville, 
Maryland. Sixty horses and fifty heads of cattle were 
also captured in this gallant charge. 

With all their spoils the expedition returned, via 
Leesburg, arriving at their camps in safety. But all 
eyes were turned expectantly towards Fredericksburg, 
with its two vast armies preparing for a grand en- 
counter. 

Nearly all the citizens of the city had left their 
homes and fled southward. 

While General Burnside waited for his pontoons, Gen- 
eral Lee was fortifying the Heights in rear of the city, 
and concentrating his forces for the anticipated onset 
This state of things was greatly regretted. The lay- 
ing of pontoons was commenced on the night of the 
eleventh of December, but the work progressed so 
slowly that the task was not half completed when day- 
light made the sappers and miners a fair mark for the 
sharpshooters, who were hidden among the buildings 
which lined the opposite shore, and whose numbers 
had largely increased within a few days. Battery after 
battery was opened on Falmouth Heights, until not 
less than one hundred and fifty guns at good range, 
were belching fire and destruction upon the nearly ten- 
antless city, and still the sharpshooters prevented the 
completion of the pontoons, and disputed our cross- 
ing. At this critical moment the Seventh Michigan 
regiment of infantry, immortalized its name. Fail- 
ing, after some entreaty, to secure the assistance of the 
engineer corps to row them across, they undertook the 
perilous labor themselves, and amid the rattling of bul- 
lets, and the cheers and shouts of our own men, they 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 217 

reached the opposite shore with five of their number 
killed, and sixteen wounded, including Lieutenant Col- 
onel Baxter. They immediately dashed through the 
streets of the city, and being quickly reenforced by 
other regiments, they soon cleared the rifle-pits and 
buildings adjacent to the stream, of all annoyance. 
Foremost among the noble men who performed this 
heroic work was the Rev. Arthur B. Fuller, chaplain 
of the Sixteenth Massachusetts infantry, who was killed 

by a rifle-shot. 

Our pontoons were now laid in quietness to the city; 
and about three miles below, General Franklin laid 
his pontoons without opposition. Several bridges were 
thus constructed, and before night the main body of 
infantry and cavalry filed across the river, preparatory 
to a grand engagement. The morning of the thir- 
teenth of December was dimmed by a heavy fog which 
covered friend and foe. But orders for an attack upon 
the formidable works of the enemy had been given, and 
even before the mist arose, General Gibbon opened fire 
with his heavy artillery, which was responded to, but 
without much effect owing to the fog, which however 
disappeared about eleven o'clock. The engagement 
now became general, and the fighting was Of a charac- 
ter more desperate and determined than ever known 

before. . 

The line of Rebel fortifications was so far baca 
from the river, that our artillery, posted on Falmouth 
Heights, was out of range, and made more havoc in 
our advancing ranks than in the ranks of the enemy, 
until the fire was silenced by order of General Burn- 
side. About one o'clock, one of the most brilliant 



218 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

movements of the day was performed by General 
George G. Meade's division, which by a terrific charge 
gained the crest of the hill, near the key of the posi- 
tion. But not being sufficiently supported, they were 
compelled to retire, bringing away several hundred 
prisoners with them. 

Another masterpiece of gallantry was presented 
nearer the town, at Marye's Heights, where General 
Meagher's Irish Brigade repeatedly charged the Rebel 
works, until at least two-thirds of his stalwart men 
strewed the ground, killed and wounded. Brigade 
after brigade was ordered to take these Heights, and 
though their ranks were mown down like grass before 
the scythe, in the very mouth of Rebel guns the 
effort was again and again made. Midway up the 
Heights was a stone wall, behind which lay the hosts 
of the enemy, who delivered their fire with scarcely 
any exposure, sweeping down our columns as they 
approached. This hillside was completely strewn with 
our dead and disabled, and at length our assailing 
ranks retired, compelled to abandon their futile and 
murderous attempts. But in the language of Qeneral 
Sumner, " they did all that men could do." This 
could be applied to all the troops engaged. 

Night at length threw her sable mantle over the 
bloody field, covering in her somber folds the stif- 
fened corpses and mangled forms of not less than fif- 
teen thousand dead and wounded, including the casu- 
alties of both armies. 

Not one of all our dead fell more lamented than 
Major General George D. Bayard, who was struck by 
a shell in the early part of the engagement while stand 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 219 

ing in front of his cavalry brigade awaiting orders. 
He was but twenty-eight years of age, of prepossess- 
ing appearance and manners, with as brave a spirit as 
ever defended the flag of the Union, and a capacity 
of mind for military usefulness equal to any man in 
the service. Gradually he had arisen from one posi- 
tion of honor and responsibility to another, proving 
himself tried and true in each promotion, while his 
cavalry comrades especially were watching the devel- 
opments of his growing power, with unabating enthu- 
siasm. But " death loves a shining mark ," and our 
hero, witli his own blood, baptized the day which had 
been appointed for his nuptials. The recital of his 
early death brought tears to many eyes, and caused 
many a loving heart to bleed. 

" Death lies on him like an untimely frost 
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field." 

The night following this'bloody conflict was horrible 
In the extreme. Every available spot or building in 
the city was sought for a hospital, to which the 
Wounded were brought on stretchers by their compan- 
ions. Now and then there came a poor fellow who was 
able to walk, supporting with one hand its bloody 
mangled mate. At times two men might be seen ap- 
proaching through the darkness, supporting between 
them their less fortunate comrade, whose bloody gar- 
ments told that he had faced the foe. But many of 
our hospitals proved to be very unsafe refuges, into 
which Miuie balls and broken shells would come rat- 
tling, and in some instances destroying the precious 
lives that had escaped — though not without suffering 
— the terrible and deadly shock of battle. Many of 



220 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

the wounded were taken across the river, and made 
perfectly safe and as comfortable as circumstances 
would permit. The Sanitary and Christian Commis- 
sions rendered very effective service, enshrining them- 
selves in the memory of a grateful people. Their 
deeds of charity and mercy can never be forgotten. 
By their timely supplies and personal labors, many 
lives were saved, and thousands of the wounded were 
comforted. 

The dawn of December fourteenth was hailed with 
gladness by many a gallant soldier who had suffered 
from the chill of the night, wounded and alone upon 
the bloody field. A little firing occurred during the 
day but no general engagement resulted. This was 
greatly feared, for had General Lee advanced upon us v 
it is difficult to see how our men, though somewhat 
covered by the fire of our batteries from Falmouth 
Heights, could have recrossed the stream without fear- 
ful loss. But both armies spent most of the holy day 
in the sacred task of caring for the wounded and bury- 
ing their dead. Monday was also spent principally in 
the same employment, and in the night, so skillfully as 
to be unknown even to the Rebel pickets, our whole 
army was withdrawn to the north side of the river in 
perfect order and without loss. Our pontoons were 
then taken up. 

General Burnside was not willing to remain totally 
idle, and after some time had elapsed he planned 
another grand movement, which with more or less oppo- 
sition from his subordinates who did not confide in his 
judgment, he endeavored to execute. But he had just 
taken the first step in the programme when he was sig- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 221 

naled to desist, by a telegram from the President, who 
had been informed that the temper of the army was not 
favorable to a general move under its present com- 
mander. 

With the battle of Fredericksburg terminated the 
campaign of 1862, and the two great armies established 
their winter quarters facing each other along the line 
of the Rappahannock. Our camps extended several 
miles along the northern shore above and below Fal- 
mouth, and the enemy occupied the south bank above 
and below the Heights of Fredericksburg. Indeed, 
nearly the whole territory between the Rappahannock 
and the defences of Washington, a dark, forsaken 
wilderness region, with only here and there a planta- 
tion or a village, was soon converted into a vast camp- 
ing ground, and became, for a time, the most populous 
section of Virginia. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

MURFREESBORO OR STONE 

Rosecrans in Command of the Army of the Cumberland. — The 
Christmas Night War-Council.— The Muddy March Southward. — 
The Midnight Cavalcade. — " Push Them Hard." — Fog and Hard 
Marching. — In front of Murfrecsboro. — The Rail Tent. — The Calm 
that Precedes the Battle-Storm. — Star Spangled Banner. — McCook 
Surprised. — Sheridan Stands Firm. — The Battle nearly Lost. — Gen- 
eral Rosecrans Turns the Tide. — Desperate Valor. — Negley's Men 
Cut their Way Through the Confederate Ranks. — The Enemy 
Driven. — The Last Grand Charge. — Magnificent Victory. — Rose- 
crans' Star in the Ascendant. 

GENERAL ROSECRANS, having succeeded Gen- 
eral Buell in the command of the Army of the 
Cumberland, established his headquarters at Nash- 
ville, and for two months previous to January, 1863, 
had been occupied in re-organizing and recruiting his 
army, securing his communications and accumulating 
supplies. 

On Christmas night, 1862, a council of war was 
held at General Rosecrans' headquarters, which did 
not break up until midnight. McCook was there, and 
Crittenden and Thomas. It was decided to commence 
the march to Murfreesboro in the morning. There 
Bragg's army was concentrated and there Rosecrans 
proposed to give him battle. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 223 

When at the middle of night, the corps comman- 
ders left their general's door, he grasped each one by 
the hand saying as he did so, " Spread out your skir- 
mishers far and wide ! Expose their nests ! Keep 
fighting I" 

At daylight on the morning of the twenty-sixth the 
advance was commenced. The army of Rosecrans, 
nearly fifty thousand strong, took up their line of 
march along the muddy roads and drenched fields, 
while the rain poured down in torrents and the val- 
leys were thick with mist. But after two months of 
comparative inactivity, the army was full of excite- 
ment at the prospect of renewing the contest, and 
with brave hearts they marched on, seemingly un- 
mindful of the rain. 

McCook commanded the right, Crittenden the left, 
and Thomas held the center — the three grand divis- 
ions filling every road leading south or southwest from 
Nashville. It was not until some hours afterwards 
that Rosecrans and staff rode out from the city to 
join his command. The fog was so dense on the right 
that McCook was obliged to halt. The country as 
they advanced increased in roughness and was heav- 
ily wooded with thickets of oak and cedar. 

Two miles beyond the picket lines our advance en- 
countered large bodies of Confederate cavalry, sup- 
ported by infantry and artillery. Sharp skirmishing 
ensued and the progress of the Union troops was ren- 
dered difficult and bloody. After the day's toilsome 
march through the mud and rain and over the broken 
country, the army, at night, bivouacked in the wet 
fields. " Through the darkness and storm, Rosecrans 



224 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

with his escort went dashing over the country, in 
search of McCook's headquarters. Their horses' 
hoofs struck fire among the rocks, and they swung 
along at such a slashing pace that one of his escort 
finally exclaimed : " General, this way of going like 
h — 1 over the rocks will knock up the horses." 
"That's true," he replied, "walk." Moving on more 
slowly through the impenetrable blackness, he called 
an orderly and said, " Go back and tell that young 
man he must not be profane." Reaching McCook's 
headquarters in the woods the two entered a wagon 
and sitting down on the bottom, with a candle be- 
tween them stuck in the socket of a bayonet, the 
point of which was driven into the floor, they con- 
sulted together of the movements for the morrow. 
" Push them hard" were his last words as he arose to 
his feet. Emerging from the wagon between ten and 
eleven o'clock, he exclaimed, " We mount, now, gen- 
tlemen." The blast of a bugle suddenly rung through 
the forest, rousing up the staff, some of whom, tired 
with being ten hours in the saddle, were dozing in 
their blankets upon the rocks around. To the" Good 
night," of McCook, Rosecrans added, " God bless 
you !"■ and striking the spurs into his horse, dashed 
down the road, splashing the mud over himself and 
those who pressed hard after him. Losing his way 
on his return, he " charged impatiently " through 
the woods, in the vain effort to find the right road. 
Amid bugle calls and shouts, the escort got separated 
and confused, and lost their leader, who, with a part 
of his staff, wandered off alone, and at length, at one 
o'clock in the morning, reached his camp — having 






BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 225 

been in the saddle eighteen hours. The others did 
not arrive there till two hours later." On the next 
morning the landscape continued to be enveloped in 
mist and the marching columns pressed slowly on ; 
but in the early afternoon the fog lifted and their pro- 
gress was more sure. As they advanced, they drove 
the Confederate skirmishers before them. The next 
day being Sunday, the army rested, but before sunrise 
on Monday morning, the Union columns were again 
in motion, sweeping southward. Crittenden, with 
Palmer's division in the van, went forward on the 
main Murfreesboro road to Stone River. At about 
three o'clock in the afternoon, General Palmer sig- 
naled Rosecrans that Murfreesboro was in sight and 
that the enemy were retreating. Rosecrans at once 
ordered a division into the town. The brigade of 
Barker was sent across the river and drove a regi- 
ment of the enemy back upon their main supports, 
but some captured prisoners, reporting that the entire 
corps of Breckenridge occupied Murfreesboro, Crit- 
tenden withdrew Harker across the river without 
serious disaster. The Confederates were driven in so 
sharply on the Jefferson and Murfreesboro pikes that 
they had no time to destroy the bridges behind them, 
on which they crossed Stone River. The next day — 
December thirtieth — Rosecrans was up at three 
o'clock in the morning, and the Union columns were 
pushed through the cedar thickets towards the point 
where the enemy were drawn up in line of battle. At 
about seven o'clock Crittenden's advance received a 
sharp fire from the enemy. 

It becoming apparent that some of the Confederate 



226 BATTLES FOR THE US ION. 

cannoneers were making a target of Rosecrans' head- 
quarters, the general changed his position to the 
crest of a slope a short distance away, and halting 
under some road-side trees, remained there, directing 
the disposition of his troops, for the rest of the day. 
A shed was constructed by placing a pole in a couple 
of crotched sticks and covering one side with rails 
and rubber blankets. Sheltered from the rain under 
this improvised roof, the staff here wrote their orders 
before a blazing camp fire. The boom of cannon from 
the front, the Union columns wheeling into position, 
the roll of musketry, and the galloping cavalry and 
flying orderlies all indicated with unerring certainty, 
a great battle at hand. Just at this time, in the 
gloom and rain, the band of the Fourth Cavalry 
struck up the " Star Spangled Banner " and the 
patriot strains awoke an answering chord in every 
heart that beat under the army blue. 

By night the army was nearly all in position, 
stretching along an irregular north and south line for 
the distance of three miles and facing the enemy. 
Our left rested on Stone River, the extreme right un- 
der Willich, brigade commander, being placed at right 
angles to the main line in order to meet, if necessary, 
any flank movement of the enemy. The right wing, 
which had suffered to some degree from the deter- 
mined efforts of the Confederates to repel their ad- 
vance, was placed along an elevation of ground, cov- 
ered with woods and fronting an open field. A valley 
of cedar and oak thickets occupied the space between 
the front of this ridge and the lines of the enemy. 

The center was slightly in advance of the main 



BATTLES FOR TIIE UNION. £27 

line, while the left, with its two extremities placed in 
opposite tracts of woods, had its center across a broad 
cotton-field. Thickets, fields, patches of forest-growth 
and half-burned clearings stretched behind. 

Half a mile away lay the Confederate army, ar- 
ranged in a line parallel to our own. 

The right wing of our army was in three divisions, 
Johnson holding the right, Davis the center and Sher- 
idan the left, which joined the center of Rosecrans' 
army. 

The peaceful dawn of the thirty-first was broken by 
the roll of the drum and the bugle-call, ringing down 
the line. Very soon, Van Cleve's division was in mo- 
tion. In the tent of General Rosecrans, the solemn 
ceremony of High Mass was being celebrated, after 
which the officers with their overcoats on, gathered 
around the fires in the wintry morning. Suddenly, 
Rosecrans heard the sound of distant firing from the 
direction of McCook's position. But in nowise dis- 
turbed he went on talking, supposing that all was go- 
ing on as he expected. But there had been a serious 
mistake somewhere in calculations. 

" Before seven o'clock in the morning, Hardee's 
corps burst from the thickets in McCook's front and 
on his right ; Cleburne's four brigades charging ve- 
hemently its extreme right, Cheatham's and McCown's 
divisions striking it more directly in front, hurling 
back our skirmishers at once on our lines, and crumb- 
ling these into a fleeing mob within a few minutes. 
Of the two brigade commanders in Johnson's divis- 
ion, holding our extreme right, General Kirk was se- 
verely wounded at the first fire ; while General Wil- 

10 



228 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

lich had his horse killed and was himself captured. 
So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that a por- 
tion of Our battery horses had been unhitched from 
the guns and sent off to drink, a few minutes before. 
The guns, of course, were lost." McCook's attempt 
to re-form his broken ranks behind his first position 
was a failure. His right was utterly routed and 
chased back towards our center. If Sheridan's di- 
vision had given way before the sudden onset of the 
enemy like the other two divisions under Johnson, 
Rosecrans' battle would have been a lost cause. But 
Sheridan stood fast. Every man was at his post and 
every artillery-man at his gun, awaiting the shock. 

The hostile columns massed before the batteries, 
several regiments deep, and marched firmly upon our 
guns, though the cannon-shot tore open their ranks 
with fearful havoc. But the gaps closed up as quickly 
as made, and they marched up to within pistol-shot 
of Sill's brigade. At this point, another terrible vol- 
ley of fire blazed in their very faces, and the entire 
line broke and fled. Sill, with his brigade, charged 
after them in pursuit, chasing them to the woods. 
But the enemy rallied again with fresh forces and 
moved against Sheridan's flank. Sheridan then 
moved up to Negley and joining that part of the cen- 
ter, placed his troops in such a position that they 
presented two slender fronts to the enemy. His ar- 
tillery was located at the angle thus formed and in 
this manner they awaited the attack. Three times 
a desperate advance was made by the Confederates 
and three times did Sheridan send them back re- 
pulsed. The enemy's artillery was pushed forward 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 229 

until the guns of the opposing batteries played on 
each other at rifle-shot range. The slaughter was 
deadly. At last the ammunition gave out, and owing 
to the capture of supply trains no more could be ob- 
tained. In this desperate strait and with the Con- 
federates swarming on all sides, Sheridan was com- 
pelled to fall back, leaving nine guns on the field. 
There was no panic — no disorder ; but slowly, with 
unbroken ranks and flying colors, did those brave men 
retire. 

The center was now exposed by Sheridan's retreat, 
and the combined forces of the Rebels concentrated 
their attack upon that portion of our line. Rosecrans 
arrived on the field just as Sheridan was retiring. An 
aide dashed up to him with the news that the right 
had given way and the center was fighting alone. 

" Tell General McCook I will help him," exclaimed 
Rosecrans, and almost immediately his troops were 
marching, on the double-quick, across the field. 

An aide was dispatched to Van Cleve to send a brig- 
ade to the right, and the artillery and troops were 
hurried to the scene of battle. 

Rosecrans dashed forward with his staff at a break- 
neck pace, and galloping through the thickest of the 
fight, down Harker's front, he gained an eminence 
near by, from which the position of his troops could 
be seen. Observing a hostile battery playing with 
deadly effect on Harker's brigade, he shouted to the 
Chief of Artillery, " Silence that battery !" and plant- 
ing the guns himself, again galloped off through a 
whirlwind of shot. He met Sheridan with his retreat- 
ing troops when that General said to him, " We have 



230 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

no cartridges and our guns are empty. Rosecrans 
directed where ammunition could be found, and very 
soon, Sheridan, with his decimated ranks, was once 
more facing the foe. 

The right of the center under Negley, uncovered 
by Sheridan's retreat, was flanked, and the brave men 
were obliged to cut their way through to the rear. 
The left still occupied its position on the river, hold- 
ing it with determination, and Hazen, commanding the 
left of Negley's division, stood like a rock, holding 
the key of the position, while the enemy charged his 
line furiously, but in vain. 

Meantime Rosecrans rapidly formed a new line of 
battle. He dashed from one point to another on tho 
field, giving orders and imbuing the men with his 
own enthusiasm. Six batteries were massed on an 
eminence which commanded the approach of tho 
enemy. Their advancing columns came on with 
steady front and bristling steel. 

The shot from our guns tore through their lines 
with awful havoc, and when they drew nearer, a wild 
and resistless charge was made on their reeling ranks. 
The staff officers, in imitation of their brave general, 
threw themselves enthusiastically into the thickest of 
the fight, waving their caps and leading the men for- 
ward. 

The Confederate line halted and then gave way be- 
fore the terrible onset of our troops, leaving the 
ground thick with their dead. But though driven 
back, their broken lines were re-formed with their re- 
serves and again they advanced to the attack only to 
be again hurled back. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 231 

About four o'clock Bragg made his last attempt, 
and at this time it was chiefly directed against Pal- 
mer's division on the river. But Hazen with his im- 
mortal thirteen hundred, still held the ground to 
which they had clung with such marvelous tenacity 
during the day. Says Hazen in his report : * * • * 
" About four o'clock the enemy again [advanced upon 
my front, in two lines. The battle had hushed, and 
the dreadful splendor of this advance can only be 
conceived, as all description must fall vastly short. 
His right was even with my left, and his left was lost 
in the distance. 

" But this proud array had lost its strength ; the 
confidence of victory was wanting, and at the first 
Volley it wheeled and disappeared." 

At sunset the battle for the day was over and that 
night there was a meeting of generals at head-quar- 
ters. Despite the desperate fighting of the past 
twenty-four hours and the advantages gained, they 
knew that the enemy was not beaten and that the 
battle would probably be renewed on the morrow. 
The anxious question in debate was whether the fight 
should be continued next day. Rosecrans, mounting 
his horse, rode over the battle-ground, ascertained 
that there was ammunition enough on hand, examined 
the country and returning, said, " Gentlemen, we con- 
quer or die right here." 

The die was cast, and Rosecrans, making a few 
changes in the disposition of his troops, awaited with 
anxious heart the morning. 

In the forenoon of the next day, Beattie was sent 
across the river with two brigades of Van Cleve's 



232 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

division, and occupied a hill commanding the upper 
ford. 

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy 
advanced from the thickets in front of Breckenridge's 
position, and moved forward to the attack. They 
crossed the open cotton-fields in three heavy battle- 
lines, supported by three batteries. White puffs of 
smoke soon shot out from the hill-side ; our single 
battery responded, and the roar of guns shook the 
shores of the stream. At first they came on with 
steady step and even front, and then, like a swollen 
torrent, flung themselves forward on that portion of 
Van Cleve's division which was across the river, and 
bore it back and over the stream to the main body. 
But Rosecrans was prepared for this movement — in 
fact, when it occurred, was about to execute his origi- 
nal plan and swing his left against Breckenridge. He 
hastily massed fifty-eight cannon on an eminence, 
where they could completely enfilade the successive 
columns as they advanced. Their opening roar was 
terrific, and the crash of the iron storm through the 
thick-set ranks was overwhelming. It was madness 
to face it, yet the Rebel columns closed up and pressed 
on ; but as they came within close range of our mus- 
ketry, the line suddenly seemed to shrivel up like a 
piece of parchment, in the fire that met it, yet, pushed 
on and cheered by the rear lines, the ranks endeav- 
ored to bear up against it and advance, but again 
halted ; while officers, with waving caps and flashing 
swords, galloped along the lines and still urged them 
on. They had now got so near that the men could 
be seen to topple over separately, before the volleys. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 233 

A third and last time they staggered forward, the fore- 
most ranks reaching even to the water's edge. But 
here they stopped — it was like charging down the red 
mouth of a volcano. Balancing a moment on the 
edge of battle, they broke and fled. With a wild and 
thrilling shout, our troops sprung to their feet, and 
charged with the bayonet — dashing like madmen 
through the stream. They chased the flying foe for a 
half mile, cheering as they charged, their cheers caught 
up by those on the other side of the river, and sent 
back with increased volume and power. Darkness 
ended the fight, and Crittenden's entire corps passed 
over, and with Davies occupied the ground so gal- 
lantly won. 

The next night Bragg evacuated Murfreesboro, and 
the following morning Rosecrans celebrated High 
Mass in praise of the victory. 

The Union loss in killed and wounded reached the 
startling estimate of nearly nine thousand men, or 
twenty per cent, of the force engaged. Fifty pieces of 
artillery were also lost ; but though the cost was ter- 
rible, the battle tvas won ; thanks to the grand gener- 
alship of Rosecrans, the desperate valor of Sheridan, 
the firmness of Hazen, the bravery of Thomas, Critten- 
den, and others, and the unflinching support rendered 
by the soldiers of the Army of the Cumberland. 
There is little doubt that at one time the battle was 
nearly lost to us, and but for the decisive action of 
Rosecrans, our arms would have met with reverse in- 
stead of being crowned with victory. That General 
rose at once to a dizzy height in the popular esteem, 
and his name became a talisman of victory. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CHA-KTOBIjIjOFLSVIIjIjE. 

Successful Strategy of General Hooker. — Crossing the Rappahannock 
at Sunrise. — The Chancellorsville House. — Lee's Position Flanked. 
— The Battle Opened by Sykes. — Loss of Prestige and Position by 
the Union Troops. — Capture of Prisoners by General Birney. — 
Stonewall Jackson Appears Upon the Scene. — Our Divisions Over- 
whelmed by the Rebel Hordes. — A Frantic Stampede. — Heroism of 
Major Keenan, and his men. — Death of Stonewall Jackson. — A Fatal 
Hour. — Beating a Retreat. — Hooker's Words of Praise. — Lincoln 
Visits the Camp at Falmouth. 

THE last days of April 1863, -witnessed the stratagem 
and skill of General Hooker, in his advance upon the 
Confederate position on the south hank of the Rappa- 
hannock. A feint of crossing the river below Freder- 
icksburg with his entire army completely deceived the 
enemy who immediately withdrew his forces from the 
upper fords and concentrated them opposite the feigned 
point of attack. 

Three corps commanded respectively by Generals 
Howard, Slocum, and Meade, had been sent up the 
river but marched at a sufficent distance from the hos- 
tile southern banks to avoid all observation. Arriv^ 
ing at Kelly's Ford they began to cross though it was 
night, and the men were compelled to wade in water 
up to their armpits. The moon which shone brightly 
assisted them several hours, but went down before 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £35 

the last corps had crossed, when fording had to be 
suspended until morning. Pontoons were brought up 
and laid at sunrise, and then the remainder of the in- 
fantry and cavalry corps crossed briskly. 

The columns advanced towards the Rapidan, and the 
commands of Howard and Slocum crossed this river 
at Germania Mills, while Meade's Corps crossed below 
at Ely's Ford, and then all marched on roads which 
converge at the Chancellorsville House, a large brick 
edifice, which was used as a mansion and tavern, situ- 
ated in a small clearing of a few acres and which with 
its few appendages of out-buildings constituted the vil- 
lage known by that name. 

Other forces, including General Pleasanton with 
nearly a brigade of cavalry who guarded the flanks of 
the advancing columns had crossed the river, and taken 
position near Chancellorsville. 

By this wily movent General Lee's position on the 
Rappahannock had been entirely flanked ; and, flushed 
with incipient success, General Hooker followed his 
great captains, and in the evening, thirtieth of April, 
he established his headquarters in the historic brick 
mansion above described. So completely absorbed 
was our General with the brilliancy of his advance, 
that, in the moment of exultation, he forgot the dan- 
ger of his situation and issued the following congrat- 
ulatory order : 

Head-Quarters, Army of the Potomac, 
Camp near Falmouth, Virginia, April 30th, 1863. 

It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the commanding General 
announces to the army that the operations of the last three days 
have determined that our enemy must either ingloriously fly, or 

10* 



236 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

come out from behind his defences and give us battle on our 
own ground, where certain destruction awaits him. The ope- 
rations of the Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Corps have been a 
succession of splendid achievements. 

By command of Major-General HOOKER. 
S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant General. 

It would seem as if the General had overlooked the 
fact that his army had but eight days supplies at hand ; 
that a treacherous river flowed between him and his 
depots ; that he was surrounded by a labyrinth of for- 
ests, traversed in every direction by narrow roads and 
paths, all well known to the enemy, but unknown even 
to most of his guides ; and that many of his guns of 
heaviest calibre, and most needed in a deadly strife, 
were on the other side the river. 

General Lee had undoubtedly been outgeneraled by 
Hooker in this movement, but he appeared not to have 
been disconcerted. Leaving the Heights of Freder- 
icksburg with a small force, he advanced towards 
Chancellorsville. 

The first collision between the contending forces 
took place on the first of May. General Sickles with 
a division of regulars was despatched at nine o'clock 
in the morning on the Old Pike to Fredericksburg. 
He was followed by a part of the Second Corps. Sykes 
had not proceeded far before he encountered Lee ad- 
vancing, and a sharp contest ensued, with heavy losses 
on both sides. The Rebels having the best ground, 
and being superior in numbers, compelled our men to 
fall back, which they did in tolerable order, bringing 
away everything but their dead and badly wounded. 
But the enemy followed our retreating column, though 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 237 

cautiously, and filled the woods with sharpshooters. 
( They also planted their heavy batteries on hills which 
partially commanded the clearing around the Chancel- 
lor sville House. This gave them great advantage. 
They were also greatly elated with the success which 
had crowned the first onset. This was Hooker's first 
misfortune or mistake. The first blow in such an en- 
gagement is quite as important as the last. This first 
movement ought to have been more powerful, and 
ought to have given to our men a foretaste of victory. 
But we had lost prestige and position which undoubtedly 
weakened us not a little. The night following passed 
quietly away, except that the leaders were laying their 
plans for future operations. 

About eight o'clock on the morning of the second, 
it was reported that a heavy column of the enemy was 
passing rapidly towards our right, whither the Eleventh 
Corps had been stationed. This movement was hid- 
den by the forests, though the road over which the 
column passed was not far from our front. A rifled 
battery was opened upon this moving column, which, 
though out of sight, was thrown into disorder, at which 
time General Birney made a charge upon them with 
such force as to capture and bring away five hundred 
prisoners. By successive and successful advances, by 
sunset our men had broken this column and held the 
road upon which they had been marching to some 
scene of mischief. But the evil was not cured, as 
other roads more distant and better screened were fol- 
lowed by the wily foe. 

Just before dark Stonewall Jackson, with about twen- 
ty-five thousand veterans, fell like a whirlwind upon 



238 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

the Eleventh Corps, which he had flanked so cautiously 
and. yet so rapidly that our German comrades were 
taken by surprise while preparing their suppers, with 
arms stacked, and no time to recover. It is not at all 
wonderful that men surprised under these circumstan- 
ces should become panic stricken and flee. Let not the 
censure rest upon the rout, but upon the carelessness 
that led to the surprise. 

Whole divisions were now overwhelmed by the Rebel 
hordes, that swept forward amid blazing musketry and 
battle-shouts, which made the wilderness resound ; 
and a frantic stampede commenced, which not all the 
courage and effort of commanding generals, or the 
intrepidity of some regiments could check, and which 
threatened to rout the entire army. This unforeseen 
disaster changed the whole programme of the battle, 
and greatly disheartened our men. 

However, the ground was not to be abandoned so 
ingloriously, and though our lines were broken, and 
the enemy had gained a great advantage, heroism 
was yet to manifest its grand spirit, and to achieve 
undying laurels. The sun had gone down refusing 
to look upon this Union defeat and slaughter, but the 
pale-faced moon gazed with her weird light upon the 
bloody scene, while the carnage still continued. 

With the disaster of the Eleventh Corps, General 
Sickles, who was stationed in the front and center of 
our lines, and had been preparing to deal a heavy 
blow upon the enemy, was left in a critical position. 
His expectation of assistance from General Howard 
was not only cut off, but he was left with only two di- 
visions and his artillery to meet the shock of the ad- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 239 

vancing hosts. General Pleasanton, with his small 
force of cavalry, being under Sickles' command, was 
ordered to charge the proud columns of the enemy, 
with the hope of checking them until our batteries 
could be suitably planted. 

Pleasanton, addressing Major Keenan of the Eighth 
Pennsylvania Cavalry, said, " You must charge into 
those woods with your regiment, and hold the Rebels 
until I can get some of these guns into position. You 
must do it at whatever cost." 

" I will," was the noble response of the true sol- 
dier, who, with only about five hundred men, was to 
encounter columns at least twenty-five thousand 
strong, led by Stonewall Jackson ! The forlorn charge 
was made, but the martyr-leader, with the majority of 
his dauntless troopers, soon baptized the earth upon 
which he fell, with his life blood. But the precious 
sacrifice was not in vain. The Rebel advance was 
greatly checked, as when a trembling lamb is thrown 
into the jaws of a pursuing pack of ravenous wolves. 

The two determined generals improved these dearly 
bought moments in planting their own batteries, and 
getting in readiness also several guns which had been 
abandoned by the Eleventh Corps in its flight. All 
these guns were double-shotted, and all due prepara- 
tion was made for the expected stroke. It was a mo- 
ment of trembling suspense. Our heroes waited not 
long, when the woods just in front of them began to 
swarm with the advancing legions of the foe, who 
opened a vigorous musketry fire, and charged towards 
our guns. Darkness was falling ; but the field where 
the batteries were planted was so level that the gun- 



240 BATTLES FOR 1HE UNION. 

ners could do wonderful execution. And this they 
did. The Rebel charge had just commenced when 
our guns simultaneously opened with a withering fire, 
which cut down whole ranks of living flesh like grass. 
As one line of embattled hosts melted away, another 
rushed forward in its place to meet the same sad fate. 
Three successive and desperate charges were made, 
one of them to within a few yards ot tho guns, but 
each was repulsed with terrible slaughter. In many 
places the dead were literally in heaps. Our resist- 
ance proved successful. 

A little later in the night, and right in front of 
these batteries, fell Stonewall Jackson, mortall} 
wounded by our scathing fire, as was at first sup 
posed, but more likely by the fire of his own infantry 
as one of their writers alleges. Speaking of Jackson 
he says, " Such was his ardor, at this critical moment 
and his anxiety to penetrate the movements of tho 
enemy, doubly screened as they were by the dense 
forest and gathering darkness, that he rode ahead of 
his skirmishers, and exposed himself to a close and 
dangerous fire from the enemy's sharpshooters, posted 
in the timber. 

" So great was the danger which he thus ran, that 
one of his staff said : ' General, don't you think this 
is the wrong place for you?' He replied quickly: 
' The danger is all over ; the enemy is routed. Go 
back, and tell A. P. Hill to press right on.' Soon 
after giving this order General Jackson turned, and, 
accompanied by his staff and escort, rode back at a 
trot, on his well-known ' Old Sorrel,' toward his own 
men. Unhappily, in the darkness — it was now nine 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £41 

or ten o'clock at night — the little body of horsemen 
was mistaken for Federal cavalry charging, and the 
regiments on the right and left of the road fired a 
sudden volley into them with the most lamentable 
results. Captain Boswell, of General Jackson's staff, 
chief of artillery, was wounded ; and two couriers 
were killed. General Jackson received one ball in 
his left arm, two inches below the shoulder joint, 
shattering the bone and severing the chief artery ; a 
second passed through the same arm, between the 
elbow and wrist, making its exit through the palm of 
the hand ; a third ball entered the palm of his right 
hand, about the middle, and, passing through, broke 
two of the bones. 

u He fell from his horse, and was caught by Cap- 
tain Wormly, to whom he said, ' All my wounds are 
by my own men.' " 

The loss of this heroic chieftain, this swift flanker 
and intrepid leader, was undoubtedly the greatest yet 
felt by either army in the fall of a single man. Some 
report that, on hearing of the sad fall of his chief 
captain, General Lee exclaimed, "I would rather 
have lost twenty thousand men !" 

Admitting that the Rebels gained in this battle a 
great victory, its advantages were dearly purchased 
by the loss of Thomas Jonathan Jackson. About 
midnight a fierce charge was made by General Sickles' 
forces, which proved successful, enabling our boys to 
recover much of the ground formerly occupied by the 
unfortunate Eleventh Corps, and they brought back 
with them .some abandoned guns and other valuable 
articles from the debris, which the Rebels had not 
time or disposition to disturb. 



242 BAT1LES FOR THE UNION. 

General Hooker then ordered this exposed position 
to be abandoned, and by daylight our lines were fall- 
ing back in good order towards Chancellorsville, but 
were closely pursued by the enemy, who filled the 
woods. Several determined charges were made upon 
our retreating columns, which, however, were repelled 
mostly by the fire of our artillery, which mowed down 
hundreds as they rushed recklessly almost to the can- 
non's mouth. But these batteries had been played 
and worked so incessantly for the last twelve hours, 
that ammunition began to fail, and General Sickles 
sent a message to Hooker that assistance must be 
granted him, or he would be compelled to yield his 
ground. The officer who brought the despatch, found 
General Hooker, in a senseless state, surrounded* by 
his hopeless attendants, while general confusion had 
possession of the head-quarters. A few minutes pre- 
vious to this a cannon-ball had struck the wall of the 
mansion upon which the general was incidentally 
leaning, the concussion felling him to the floor. For 
some time he was supposed to be dead, but soon giv- 
ing signs of returning consciousness, General Couch, 
who was next in rank, refused to assume command, 
and hence about an hour of precious time was lost. 
This was a fatal hour. Had General Hooker been 
able to receive Sickles' message, and ordered a heavy 
lorce to his assistance, it is thought that a great dis- 
aster could have been prevented, and probably a vic- 
tory might have been gained. 

But the golden opportunity, which is seldom dupli- 
cated in a given crisis or a life-time, was lost ; and the 
enemy, though somewhat disorganized and badly dis- 



BATTLES FOR THE VN ION. . '£43 

heartened by our well-managed batteries, had time, 
during this lull, to recover strength. They then ad- 
vanced again with such power as to compel our men 
to retire from Chancellorsville toward the Rappahan- 
nock, leaving the brick mansion a mass of ruins, made 
such by the fire of the enemy. 

By noon General Hooker had recovered his con- 
sciousness sufficiently to order the movements of his 
troops. The fighting on his front was now nearly 
over, but his position was critical. General Sedgwick, 
who had been directed to cross the Rappahannock 
below Fredericksburg, with orders to advance thence 
against all obstacles until he could fall upon General 
Lee's rear, while the grand army engaged him in 
front, found it impossible to proceed as rapidly as was 
expected of him, and was finally repulsed with such 
slaughter and pursued with such vigor as to be 
compelled to recross the river, leaving at least five 
thousand of his men killed, wounded, and captured in 
the hands of the enemy. 

No alternative seemed now left to the Army of the 
Potomac but to beat a retreat and recross the river. 
On the evening of the fifth, General Hooker held a 
council of war with his commanders, at which, how- 
ever, nothing was decided upon ; but in the night he 
took the responsibility of ordering all his forces to re- 
cross the Rappahannock, which they did in good order 
and without molestation ; and thus ended the disas- 
trous battle of Chancellorsville, with a loss of about 
eighteen thousand men on each side, and our remain- 
ing troops returned to bivouac on their old camping- 
ground on the north bank of the river near Falmouth. 



241 battles for tije- union. 

This retrograde movement was undoubtedly coil' 
sidered to be necessary in consequence of the impend- 
ing storm, which set in about four o'clock of the 
afternoon of the fifth, and rendered the march and 
night exceedingly disagreeable. The river was swol- 
len so rapidly as to set adrift several of our pontoons, 
and the act of recrossing, though orderly, was by no 
means pleasant. The storm was cold and violent, and 
the roads soon became so bad as to remind the boys 
of Burnside's unfortunate advance in January. It is 
supposed by some that the rain explains satisfactorily 
the conduct of the enemy, who seemed to make no at- 
tempt whatever to follow our returning troops. 

While yet the rain was drenching our weary boys 
on the sixth, General Hooker issued a congratulatory 
order to them and the Gountry, in which are to be 
found the following characteristic passages : 

" The Major-General commanding tenders to this 
army his congratulations on its achievements of the 
last seven days. If it has not accomplished all that 
was expected, the reasons are well known to the army. 
It is sufficient to say they were of a character not to 
be foreseen nor prevented by human sagacity or re- 
sources. 

" In withdrawing from the south bank of the Rap- 
pahannock before delivering a general battle to our 
adversaries, the army has given renewed evidence of 
its confidence in itself and its fidelity to the princi- 
ples it represents. In fighting at a disadvantage, we 
would have been recreant to our trust, to ouuselves, 
our cause, and our country. Profoundly loyal, and 
conscious of its strength, the Army of the Potomac 



BATTLES. FOR THE UNION. 245 

will give or decline battle whenever its interest or 
honor may demand. It will also be the guardian of 
its own history and its own honor. 

" By our celerity and secrecy of movement, our 
advance and passage of the rivers was undisputed, 
and, on our withdrawal, not a Rebel ventured to 
follow. 

" The events of the last week may swell with pride 
the heart of every officer and soldier of this army. 
We have added new luster to its former renown. We 
have made long marches, crossed rivers, surprised the 
enemy in his intrenchments, and, wherever we have 
fought, have inflicted heavier blows than we have re' 
ceived. We have taken from the enemy five thousand 
prisoners and fifteen colors ; captured and brought off 
seven pieces of artillery ; placed hors de combat eight- 
een thousand of his chosen troops, destroyed his 
depots filled with a vast amount of stores ; deranged 
his communications ; captured prisoners within the 
fortifications of his capital, and filled his country with 
fear and consternation. We have no other regret 
than that caused by the loss of our brave companions ; 
and in this we are consoled by the conviction that they 
have fallen in the holiest cause ever submitted to the 
arbitrament of battle." 

This order, if not perfectly satisfactory to the coun- 
try and to the authorities, was generally hailed with 
applause by the army, which recognized in its saga- 
cious rendering of our difficulties and humiliations 
the meed of praise awarded where it was due. 

The two great armies once more confronted each 
other from either bank of the river, as they had done 



246 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

during all the winter and spring months. On the 
seventh of May, President Lincoln visited the camp 
near Falmouth, conferred with his generalissimo on 
xnovements past and future, appeared pleased with the 
spirit and morale of the troops, and returned to Wash- 
ington to continue his earnest toil for the nation's life 
and well-being. 

During the month of May, quite a depletion of the 
rank and file of the army took place, by the muster- 
ing out of large numbers of three months' and two 
years' men. And such had been the depressing in- 
fluence of Chancellorsville upon the country, that the 
places of these men were not very easily filled. To 
the sagacious leaders in political and military circles 
this state of things was not a little alarming. But to 
the Confederate leaders the times were affording op- 
portunities for grand schemes, and for the execution 
of movements most startling. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

^k. U ID I E . 

Hooker Entraps Lee — "Reeonnoissance of Pleasanton. — Aldie in 
Sight. — The Grand Charge. — Harris Light in the Van. — Fitzhugh 
Lee's Desperate Efforts. — The Desired Opportunity. — Battle of the- 
Haystacks. — The Harris Light Wins. — Colonel Cesnola. — The 
Sword Presentation. — Last Desperate Attempt of the Enemy. — 
Driven From the Field in Panic. — The Battle Won. 

THE second cavalry battle at Brandy Station, fought 
June ninth, 1863, exposed the real movements 
of Lee and convinced Hooker beyond question that 
it was the intention of his opponent to cross the Po- 
tomac at some point near Harper's Ferry and again 
lead his army into Maryland and Pennsylvania. No 
effort was made to prevent or check this advance. Gen- 
eral Hooker contented himself with moving slowly on 
and carefully watching the development of the Con- 
federate plans, until his various corps reached Fairfax 
Court House. Here he made his head-quarters for 
several days, pushing his columns well out towards 
Aldie and Thoroughfare Gap. 

This delay was purposely made, in order that Lee 
might have ample time to reach a point from which he 
could not retreat without a battle. The tardiness of 
the Confederate general in reaching the banks of the 
Potomac caused considerable uneasiness in the mind 
of Hooker. To solve this mystery, General Pleasan- 



248 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

ton was instructed to make a reconnoisance in force. 
At six o'clock on the morning of June seventeenth, 
1863, the Cavalry corps, with Kilpatrick's division in 
the advance, moved from its temporary encampment 
near Centre ville. 

Taking the Warrenton Turnpike we soon crossed 
the memorable field of Bull Run, passed the famous 
Plains of Manassas, and at mid-day came in sight of 
the mountain heights surrounding the little village of 
Aldie. This place is situated in a gap of the Bull 
Run Mountains, and Kilpatrick had orders to pass 
southward through this gate, thence through the Blue 
Ridge at Ashby's Gap, and track the movements of 
Lee. 

The force under Kilpatrick consisted of the Harris 
Light, Colonel Davies ; Fourth New York, Colonel 
Cesnola : The First Massachusetts, First Rhode Isl- 
and, Sixth Ohio Cavalry, Colonel Duffie ; and a sec- 
tion of artillery under Lieutenant Randall. The Har- 
ris Light led the division. We marched in column of 
fours, and on that day my squadron was the advance 
guard. As I was at that time chief of the first platoon, 
my place was at the head of the long column which 
wound down the road. 

As we came upon Aldie, the advance guard of the 
enemy under W. H. F. Lee was unexpectedly encoun- 
tered. But Kilpatrick proved himself equal to the oc- 
casion and met the surprise gallantly. Dashing to the 
front, he made a rapid survey of the situation, and 
then came the command, in his clear, ringing tones, 
" Form platoons ! Trot ! March !" Down through the 
streets of the town we charged, and along the Middle- 



BA TTLES FOR TIIE UNION. 249 

burg Road leading over the low hill beyond. This fine 
position was gained so quickly and so successfully, that 
Fitzhugh Lee, taken by surprise, made no opposition 
to our brilliant advance ; though immediately after- 
wards he rallied and fought desperately for two hours 
to gain the lost position, while the guns of his bat- 
tery blazed destruction upon our lines. But Randall's 
guns blazed in return, tearing open the Confederate 
ranks with their shot and shell, and our boys. hand- 
somely repulsed their attack. 

On the crest of the hill up which our platoons 
charged, there was a field of hay-stacks, not yet gar- 
nered, inclosed in a barricade of rails. Behind these 
the enemy occupied a strong position, and their sharp- 
shooters had annoyed our lines to such an extent that 
they prevented our advance on the left. 

It was well known to the officers of the Harris 
Light, that our regiment had not met Kilpatrick's 
expectations, on the field of Brandy Station, and on the 
morning of this battle we had asked our General 
' for an opportunity to retrieve our reputation." 
This chance came soon enough. Kilpatrick, ordering 
forward a battalion of the Harris Light, and giving 
the men a few words of encouragement, turned to 
Major Mclrvin and pointing to the field of hay-stacks, 
said, " Major there is the opportunity you have asked 
for. Go take that position ! " Away dashed this offi- 
cer and his men. In a moment the enemy was reached, 
and the struggle began. The horses could not leap 
the barricade, but the men dismounted, scaled those 
formidable barriers, and with drawn sabres, rushed 
upon the hidden foe, who quickly asked for quarter. 



250 BA TTLE S FOR THE UNION. 

" Another incident occurred worth mentioning. 
Colonel Cesnola, of the Fourth New York Cavalry, 
had that morning, through mistake, been placed under 
arrest, and his sword being taken from him was with- 
out arms. But in one of these wild charges, made 
early in the contest, his regiment hesitated. Forget- 
ing that he was under arrest, and without command, 
he flew to the head of his regiment, reassured his men, 
and, without a weapon to give or ward a blow, led them 
to the charge. This gallant act was seen by his gen- 
eral, who, meeting him on his return, said : ' Colonel, 
you are a brave man ; you are released from arrest ; ' 
and, taking his own sword from his side, handed it to 
the colonel, saying : Here is my sword ; wear it in 
honor of this day ! ' In the next charge Colonel Ces- 
nola fell, desperately wounded and was taken prisoner." 

But the enemy, though repulsed and driven on every 
side, again rallied for a last desperate attempt. Mass- 
ing a heavy force on our right, General Rosser led 
them in a wild charge upon our lines. The First 
Massachusetts, on the extreme right, received the 
shock of this terrible onset, and though compelled 
to fall back, they fought steadily and bravely until 
the rest of the right gave way. Then ensued a scene 
of confusion and flight that sickened the heart 
of their brave General. But Kilpatrick quickly 
rushed to the rescue and prevented the threatened dis- 
aster. Randall was ordered to double-shot the guns 
of his battery ; the center and left were told to hold 
their ground, and placing himself at the head of the 
First Maine, he waited until the Confederate columns 
were within fifty yards of Randall's battery. " For- 



BATTLES FOR THE UXiOX. 251 

ward ! " was the order that then rung along the lines, 
aad with resistless fury they swept down on the advanc- 
ing Rebel ranks, causing them to reel and break in con- 
fused and* disordered flight. Kilpatrick's horse was 
killed under him, but determined to complete the vic- 
tory, he mounted a fresh one and led his whole line in 
a last charge against the flying foe. For a short time 
Lee endeavored to withstand this fierce attack, but 
finding his effort useless, sounded a retreat which 
quickly became a rout. His troops were driven in 
confusion as far as Middleburg, and night alone saved 
the remnant of his command. 

" This was by far the most bloody cavalry battle of the 
war. The Rebel chivalry had again been beaten, and 
Kilpatrick, who was the only general on the field, at 
once took a proud stand among the most famous of our 
Union cavalry generals. The fame of our cavalry was 
now much enhanced, and caused the greatest joy to the 
Nation." 

Many a brave soul suffered death's sad eclipse at 
Aldie, whose hopes brimmed high on the morning of 
that eventful day ; and many a one escaped the storm 
of bullets unscathed when to escape was marvelous. 
In looking back upon that desperate day, I have often 
wondered by what strange fatality -I passed through 
its rain of fire unhurt, but the field which brought a 
harvest of death to so many others, marked an era in 
my own humble, military history which I recall with 
pride and pleasure ; for from the battle of Aldie I 
date my first commission. The mantle of rank which 
fell from one whom death made a shining mark, on 
that ground, dropped upon my shoulders, and I was 

11 



252 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

proud and grateful to wear it in my country's service. 
I feel a just pride also in having been a participant in 
the " battle of the haystacks ", where the glorious 
squadrons of the Harris Light, swept into the mad 
conflict with the same resistless bravery that distin- 
guished them on the field of Brandy Station. 

Every soldier of the saddle who there fought under 
the grand leadership of Kilpatrick, may justly glory 
in the laurels won at Aldie. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Union Advance from Middleburg — Rebel Pickets Encountered. — The 
Fight Commenced. — Stone Fence Barricades. — A Succession of 
Brilliant Charges. — The Harris Light Drives the Enemy.— Splen- 
did Cavalry Action.— Stand at Upperville.— The Enemy Again 
Driven. — Union Forces Triumphant. — General Pleasanton's Re- 
port. 

THE running cavalry fight which began at Middle- 
burg and ended at Upperville, on a hot day in 
June, 1863, was a marvel of splendid action, and is 
of especial interest to me as a participant in its suc- 
cession of brilliant charges. 

At eight o'clock on the morning of the twenty first 
of June, General Pleasanton, at the head of the 
Cavalry Corps, moved out of Middleburg towards 
Ashby's Gap in the Blue Ridge. We had not pro- 
ceeded far before the Rebel outposts were encoun- 
tered, and driving them before us, we came upon a 
large cavalry force under the leadership of Fitzhugh 
Lee. A running engagement then commenced which 
was kept up for a distance of six miles. 

The country between Middleburg and Upperville is 
a succession of ridges and hollows, and our artillery 
was rushed forward and planted on one eminence 
after another as we advanced, from which positions 
we shelled the opposing guns of the enemy. 



254 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Along this uneven ground, stone fences occurred 
with unpleasant frequency, the Confederates taking 
shelter behind them and firing to great advantage 
upon our advancing troops. But our brave boys of 
the saddle galloped forward, charging the Rebels 
behind their stone barricades and sending them fly- 
ing before the Union sabres. 

In the vicinity of Rector's Cross Roads the surface 
of the country is very rough and the roads are 
narrow and rocky. Near this point the enemy had 
planted a section of artillery on a hill in advance of 
us, and Kilpatrick sent the Fourth New York to take 
the position ; but that regiment halting in a ravine out 
of range of the enemy's lire, Kilpatrick rode down the 
line calling for the Harris Light to come forward. 
Our regiment was ordered to charge the battery on 
the flank and clear the road of obstruction. The 
Harris Light galloped forward in column of fours 
clown the ravine and up the hill beyond, in the very 
face of the enemy's guns, forming in platoon under 
lire and charging the foe in splendid style. Utterly 
routed, they wheeled with their batteries and fled. At 
Upperville our advance was met with great despera- 
tion, the enemy charging us handsomely, but with no 
great damage. When our forces had been properly 
arranged and the right time had come, Kilpatrick 
was ordered to charge the town. With drawn sabres 
— weapons in which the General always had great 
confidence, and generally won success — and with 
yells which made the mountains and plains resound, 
we rushed upon the foe. The fray was terrible. 
Several times did the Rebels break;, but being reen- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £55 

forced, or falling back upon some better position, 
again endeavored to baffle our efforts. But they were 
not equal to' the task, and we drove them through the 
village of Paris, and finally through Ashby's Gap, 
upon their infantry columns in the Shenandoah Val- 
ley. In these charges and chase we captured two 
pieces of artillery, four caissons, several stand of 
small arms, and a large number of prisoners. 

At Rector's Cross Roads, when Kilpatrick ordered 
the Harris Light to charge the enemy's battery on 
a hill in advance of us, as we galloped down the 
intervening gully where the Fourth New York had 
halted, sheltered by the rise of ground, and while 
we were forming in column of platoons under the 
enemy's fire, a fatal bullet pierced my horse and he 
fell dead under me. Fortunately I was not dragged 
down in his fall, and as I struck the ground, a rider- 
less horse in an Indiana company near by came up. 
One of the sergeants of this company had been shot 
dead at the same time that my animal had fallen, and 
mounting his horse I rode forward with the regiment 
as they charged the enemy's position. 

Our scouts, during this engagement, had managed 
to gain an entrance into the Valley, where they ascer- 
tained that the Rebel army, in heavy columns, was 
advancing towards the Upper Potomac. 

This fight was of sufficient importance to call forth 
from the commanding general the following official 
document. 

Headquarters Cavalry Corps, ) 
Camp near Upperville, June 21, 1863. $ 

Brigadier -General S. Williams: 

General: I moved with my command this morning to 
Middleburg, and attacked the cavalry force of tlie labels 



256 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 



under Stuart, and steadily drove him all day, inflicting a 
heavy loss at every step. 

I drove him through Upperville into Ashby's Gap. 

We took two pieces of artillery, one being a Blakely gun, 
and three caissons, besides blowing up one ; also, upwards of 
sixty prisoners, and more are coming ; a lieutenant-colonel and 
major, and five other officers, besides a wounded colonel and 
a large number of wounded Rebels left in the town of Upper- 
ville. 

They left their dead and wounded upon the field; of the 
former, I saw upward of twenty. 

We also took a large number of carbines, pistols, and sabres. 
. In fact, it was a most disastrous day to the Rebel cavalry. 

Our loss has been very small both in men and horses. 

I never saw the troops behave better, or under more difficult 
circumstances. 

Very heavy charges were made, and the sabre used freely 
but always with great advantage to us. 

A. Pleasanton, 

Brigadier - General. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

GETTYSBURG-. 

• 

Meade in Command of the Army of the Potomac— The Camp on 
Marsh Run.— The Advance to Gettysburg.— Charge of Buford's 
Cavalry on the Rebel Van-guard.— The Enemy Driven Back.— 
Fall of General Reynolds.— Capture of General Archer and Eight 
Hundred Prisoners. — Victory Followed by Defeat.— The Eleventh 
Corps Break and Fly.— Strengthening the Union Position. — Occu- 
pancy of Culp's Hill and Round Top.— Sickle's Command Shat- 
tered.— Activity of Kilpatrick's Cavalry.— The Enemy Falls Back 
to Benner's Hill.— The Last Effort.— Terrible Slaughter of Troops. 
—The Desperate Final Charge.— The Tempest of Fire.— Death of 
Famsworth.— Capture of Prisoners.— Glorious Victory. 

ON Tuesday evening, June thirtieth, 1863, General 
Reynolds commanding the First, Third, and 
Eleventh Corps of the Army of the Potomac, was en- 
camped on Marsh Run near the village of Emmits- 
burg, Maryland. By direction of General Meade, 
General Reynolds with his First and Third Corps 
moved early in the morning to Gettysburg, and soon 
after sent orders to General Howard to follow with 
the Eleventh. Howard received the order of Reynolds 
at eight o'clock and immediately directed General Bar- 
low's division to follow the First Corps by the most 
direct route, while the divisions of General Steinwehr 
and Shurz were instructed to proceed by the road lead- 
ing through Horner's Mills. Having thus disposed of 



0-3 BATTLES Foil THE UNION. 

his command, General Howard pushed on in advance 
of the troops, accompanied by his staff. 

General John Buford, commanding the Third Cav- 
alry Division, had moved directly from Meade's head- 
quarters at Frederick City to Gettysburg on the pre- 
vious day, and went into camp on the Chambersburg 
Pike, about two miles west of the village. At half 
past nine o'clock on Wednesday morning the van- 
guard of the Rebel army under General Heth of. A. 
P. Hill's Corps, appeared in front of Buford's Cav- 
alry. The dauntless troopers charged vigorously the 
advancing columns of the enemy and drove them back 
upon their reserves where we were checked and in turn 
driven back before overwhelming numbers. General 
Wadsworth coming up from Emmitsburg, hearing the 
familiar sound of battle, went into a double-quick and 
hastening through Gettysburg, struck the Confederate 
advance just in time to seize and occupy the range of 
hills that overlook the place from the northwest, in the 
direction of Chambersburg. 

While Wadsworth was placing his division in posi- 
tion, General Reynolds rode forward, unattended, to 
reconnoitre, when he discovered a heavy force of the 
enemy in a grove not far distant. Raising his field- 
glass to his eyes, lie sought to survey the force and its 
position, when a whistling ball from a sharpshooter's 
musket struck him in the neck. He fell on his face 
and baptized with his life-blood the soil which had 
given him birth. His untimely fall, especially at this 
crisis and almost in sight of his childhood's home, 
was generally lamented. His lifeless form was borne 
away to the rear just as the Rebels in heavy force ad- 
vanced upon not more than one-third their number. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 059 

General Abner Doubleday had to assume command 
of our forces under this galling fire, having arrived 
with a portion of the First Corps, the remainder of 
which and the Eleventh Corps, not being able to join 
them until two hours of fearful destruction had gone 
on. Our feeble advance was compelled to fall quickly 
back upon Seminary Hill, just west of the village, and 
were pursued very closely, so that one portion of our 
line, seeing its opportunity, swung around rapidly, en- 
veloping the Rebel advance and capturing General 
Archer the leader, and about eight hundred prisoners. 

General Howard heard the cannonading, and riding 
rapidly up the Emmitsburg road, sent messengers in 
search of General Reynolds, for instructions, not 
knowing that he had been killed. While waiting the 
return of his aids, he went to the top of the college 
to take a survey of the surrounding country. His aid, 
Major Biddle, soon came back with the sad intelligence 
that General Reynolds had fallen, and that the com- 
mand devolved on himself. 

General Howard now assumed command of all the 
troops engaged, giving the command of his own corps 
to General Carl Shurz. Our men, now emboldened 
by the arrival of fresh supports, and having secured a 
fine, commanding position, renewed the fight with 
spirit and wonderful success. Victory continued to 
perch upon the banners of the Union at every point 
along the lines, until one o'clock in the afternoon, 
when our right wing was furiously assailed by Gen- 
eral Ewell's Corps which had been marching from 
York, directed by the thunder of battle. 

Thus flanked and outnumbered by the e:atherin<j 
11* 



2tf0 BATTLES FOR THE UNI OX. 

hosts, the Eleventh Corps, which was most exposed to 
the enfilading fire of the newly arrived columns, be- 
gan to waver, then to break, and soon fled in perfect 
rout. The First Corps was thus compelled to follow^ 
or be annihilated. The two retreating columns met and 
mingled in more or less confusion in the streets of the 
town, where they greatly obstructed each other, though 
the First Corps retained its organization quite unbro- 
ken. In passing through the town the Eleventh Corps 
was especially exposed to the fire of the enemy, who 
pressed his advantage and captured thousands of pris- 
oners. Our wounded, who up to this time had been 
quartered in Gettysburg, fell into the enemy's hands, 
and scarcely one half of our brave boys, who had so 
recently and proudly passed through the streets to the 
battle lines, had the privilege of returning, but cither 
lay dead or dying on the hard-fought field, or were 
captives with a cruel foe. The number of killed and 
wounded showed how desperately they had fought, and 
the large number captured was evidence of the over- 
whelming numbers with which they had contended. 

General Buford with his troopers, covered our re- 
treat, showing as bold a front as possible to the enemy, 
who, it was supposed, would follow fiercely, as they 
were in strong force and several hours of daylight yet 
remained. But doubtless fearing that a trap might 
be laid for them if they advanced too far, they content- 
ed themselves with only a portion of the borough, 
their main force occupying the hills which form a 
grand amphitheatre on the north and west. 

Our decimated forces repulsed by overwhelming 
odds took possession of Cemetery Hill, south of the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNJOX. £61 

town, and being reenforced by General Sickles' Corps, 
they began to intrench themselves with earthworks 
and rifle pits, to extend their lines to right and left, 
and to select the best positions for our batteries. This 
work was continued quite late into the evening, the 
broad moonlight greatly facilitating the operations. 

General Meade, who had selected his ground for the 
impending battle along the banks of Pipe Creek, and 
who at one o'clock p. m. was at Taneytown when the 
news of the fight, and the death of the brave Reynolds 
at Gettysburg, reached him, despatched General Han- 
cock to the scene of conflict to take command, and to 
ascertain whether Gettysburg afforded better ground 
than that which had been selected. Hancock arrived 
at Cemetery Hill just as our broken lines were hastily 
and confusedly retreating from the village ; our ad- 
vance, however, had already taken this commanding 
position and was making some preparation for resist- 
ance. The newly arrived general began at once to 
order the forces which had been engaged and others 
which were occasionally arriving. He ordered the 
occupancy of Culp's Hill on our extreme right, and 
extended the lines to our left well up the high ground 
in the vicinity of Round Top, a rocky eminence about 
two miles from Gettysburg, and nearly equidistant 
from the Emmitsburg and Taneytown roads. The 
line having been made as secure as possible, Hancock 
wrote to Meade that the position was excellent. His 
despatch had scarcely gone, when he was relieved by 
General Slocum, a ranking officer, and so, leaving the 
field, Hancock hastened to report in person to his 
chief the condition of things at Gettysburg. On 



Oi\0 BATTLES FOR Till: UNION. 

arriving, Meade informed hira that he had decided to 
fight at Gettysburg, and had sent orders to the various 
commands to that effect; then together they rode to 
Gettysburg, arriving about eleven o'clock at night. 

All night long our forces were concentrating before 
this historic village, where they were all found on the 
morning of the second of July, except the Sixth Corps, 
General Sedgwick's, which did not arrive until two 
o'clock in the -afternoon, after marching nearly all 
the previous night. 

Second Day. 
Until three o'clock all was quiet along the battle 
lines, except an occasional shot from a picket or 
sharpshooter. There had been considerable manocu- 
vering however. On our left General Sickles, in his 
eagerness for a fight, had advanced his corps across 
the Emmitsburg road, and on a wood-crowned ridge 
in the immediate vicinity of the main portion of the 
Rebel army. General Meade, in his inspection of the 
lines, remonstrated against the perilous position which 
Sickles had taken the liberty to gain. Sickles, how- 
ever, intimated that, if desired, he would withdraw to 
the ridge which Meade had justly indicated as the 
proper place where our forces would be better pro- 
tected, and would be able to cover Round Top, a point 
which it was considered essential to retain. General 
Meade thereupon expressed his fear to Sickles that the 
enemy would not permit him quietly to retire from the 
trap in which he had placed his foot; and the last 
words had scarcely fallen from his lips, when the 
Rebel batteries were opened with fearful accuracy 



BATTLES EUR THE EX /OX. 203 

and at a short range, and the infantry came on with 
their fierce charging yell. General Longstreet was in 
command. 

With such long and strong lines of infantry in his 
front, which lapped over his flanks on either side, and 
a fearful enfilading fire from the heavy batteries on 
Seminary Hill, Sickles and his brave men were torn, 
shattered, overwhelmed, and with terrible loss and in 
great confusion fell back to the ridge from which he 
ought not to have advanced. In the struggle, the 
Rebels made a desperate attempt to reach and possess 
Round Top, which they came near doing, before Gen- 
eral Sykes, who had been ordered to advance and hold 
it, had gained the elevation. But their failure to pos- 
sess this coveted prize proved a great disaster ; for 
before they could withdraw their charging columns 
across the plain between Round Top and the ridge 
where Sickles stood at the beginning of the fray, they 
were attacked by General Hancock with a heavy force, 
and driven almost like chaff before the wind. Their 
loss was terrible. At the close of this encounter our 
lines stood precisely where General Meade desired 
they should be before the fight commenced, with 
Round Top fully in our possession and now strongly 
fortified with heavy artillery and good infantry sup- 
port. 

On our right General Ewcll had succeeded in push- 
ing back some portions of our lines under Slocum, 
who occupied Culp's Hill, and some of our fortified 
lines and rifle-pits were occupied by the Rebels. 
Night came on to close the dreadful day. Thus far 
the battle had been mostly in the advantage of the 



264; BATTLE* FOR THE UN I OX. 

Rebels. They held the ground where Reynolds had 
fallen, also Seminary Ridge, and the elevation whence 
the Eleventh Corps had been driven. They also 
occupied the ridge on which Sickles had commenced 
to fight. Sickles himself was hors de combat, with a 
shattered leg which had to be amputated, and not far 
from twenty thousand of our men had been killed, 
wounded, and captured ! The Rebels had also lost 
heavily in killed and wounded : but having gained 
several important positions were deluded with the 
idea that they had gained a victory. 

General Lee, in his official report, says : " After 
a severe struggle, Longstreet succeeded in getting 
possession of and holding the desired ground. Ewell 
also carried some of the strong positions which he as- 
sailed ; and the result was such as to lead to the be- 
lief that he would ultimately be able to dislodge the 
enemy. The battle ceased at dark. These partial 
successes determined me to continue the assault next 
day." 

During these days of deadly strife and of unprece- 
dented slaughter, our cavalry was by no means idle. 
On the morning of the first, Kilpatrick advanced his 
victorious squadrons to the vicinity of Abbottstown, 
where they struck a force of Rebel cavalry, which 
they scattered, capturing several prisoners, and then 
rested. To the ears of the alert cavalry chieftain 
came the sound of battle at Gettysburg, accompanied 
with the intelligence, from prisoners mostly, that 
Stuart's main force was bent on doing mischief on 
the right of our infantry lines, which were not far 
from the night's bivouac. 



■BATTLES FOR TBE UXfOX. 265 

He appeared instinctively to know where he was 
most needed ; so in the absence of orders, early the 
next morning he advanced to Hunterstown. At this 
point were the extreme wings of the infantry lines, 
and as Kilpatrick expected, he encountered the Rebel 
cavalry, commanded by his old antagonists, Stuart, 
Lee, and Hampton. The early part of the day was 
spent mostly in reconnoitering ; but all the latter part 
of the day was occupied in hard, bold, and bloody 
work. Charges and counter-charges were made ; the 
carbine, pistol, and saber were used by turns, and the 
artillery thundered long after the infantry around 
Gettysburg had sunk to rest, well-nigh exhausted with 
the bloody carnage of the weary day. But Stuart, 
who had hoped to break in upon our flank and rear, 
and to pounce upon our trains, was not only foiled in 
his endeavor by the gallant Kilpatrick, but also 
driven back upon his infantry supports, and badly 

beaten. 

In the night, Kilpatrick, after leaving a sufficient 
force to prevent Stuart from doing any special dam- 
age on our right, swung around with the remainder 
of his division to the left of our line, near Round 
Top, and was there prepared for any work which 
might be assigned him. 

Third Day. 

Friday, July third, the sun rose bright and warm 
upon the blackened forms of the dead, which were 
strewn over the bloody earth ; upon the wounded who 
had not been cared for, and upon long glistening lines 
of armed men ready to renew the conflict. Each an- 



0,3(3 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

tagonist, rousing every slumbering element of power, 
seemed to be resolved upon victory or death. 

The fight commenced early, by an attack of Gen- 
eral Sloe urn's men, who, determined to re-gain the 
rifle-pits they had lost the evening before, descended 
like an avalanche upon the foe. The attack met with 
a prompt response from General Ewcll. But after 
several hours of desperate fighting, victory perched 
upon the Union banners, and with great loss and 
slaughter the Rebels were driven out of the breast- 
works, and fell back upon their main lines near Ben- 
ner's Hill. 

This successful move on the part of our boys in 
blue was followed by an ominous lull, or quiet, which 
continued about three hours. Meanwhile the silence 
was fitfully broken by an occasional spit of fire, while 
every preparation was being made for a last, supreme 
effort, which, it was expected, would decide the 
mighty contest. The scales were being poised for the 
last time, and upon the one side or the other was 
soon to be recorded a glorious victory or a disastrous 
defeat. Hearts either trembled or waxed strong in 
the awful presence of this responsibility. 

At length one o'clock arrived ; a signal-gun was 
fired, and then at least one hundred and twenty-five 
guns from Hill and Longstreet concentrated and 
crossed their fires upon Cemetery Hill, the centre and 
key of our position. Just behind this crest, though 
much exposed, were General Meade's headquarters. 
For nearly two hours this hill was ploughed and torn 
by solid shot and bursting shell, while about one hun- 
dred guns on our side, mainly from this crest and 



BATTLES FOR THE UMOX. 267 

Round Top, made sharp response. The earth and the 
air shook for miles around with the terrific concussion, 
which came no longer in volleys, but in a continual 
roar. .So long and fearful a cannonade was never be- 
fore witnessed on this continent. As the range was 
short and the aim accurate, the destruction was ter- 
rible. But the advantage was decidedly in favor of the 
Rebels, whose guns were superior in number to ours, 
and of heavier caliber, and had been concentrated for 
tlie attack. A spectator of the Union army thus de- 
scribes the scene : 

" The storm broke upon us so suddenly, that soldiers 
and officers — who leaped, as it began, from their 
tents, or from lazy siestas on the grass — were stricken 
in their rising with mortal wounds, and died, some 
with cigars between their teeth, some with pieces of 
food in their fingers, and one at least — a pale young 
German, from Pennsylvania — with a miniature of his 
sister in his hands. Horses fell, shrieking such awful 
cries as Cooper told of, and writhing themselves about 
in hopeless agony. The boards of fences scattered 
by explosion, flew in splinters through the air. The 
earth, torn up in clouds, blinded the eyes of hurrying 
men ; and through the branches of trees and among 
the grave-stones of the cemetery a shower of destruc- 
tion crashed ceaselessly. As, with hundreds of oth- 
ers, I groped through this tempest of death for the 
shelter of the bluff, an old man, a private in a com- 
pany belonging to the Twenty-fourth Michigan, was 
struck, scarcely ten feet away, by a cannon-ball, 
which tore through him, extorting such a low, intense 
cry of mortal pain as I pray God I may never again 



0(38 BATTLES FOR T1IE UNION. 

hear. The hill, which seemed alone devoted to this 
rain of death, was clear in nearly all its unsheltered 
places, within live minutes after the fire began." 

A correspondent from the Confederate army who 
witnessed the battle, says : " I have never yet heard 
such tremendous artillery-firing. The enemy must 
have had over one hundred guns, which, in addition 
to our one hundred and fifteen, made the air hideous 
with most discordant noise. The very earth shook 
beneath our feet, and the hills and rocks seemed to 
reel like a drunken man. For one hour and a half 
this most terrific fire was continued, during which 
time the shrieking of shell, the crash of falling tim- 
bers, the fragments of rocks flying through the air, 
shattered from the cliffs by solid shot, the heavy mut- 
terings from the valley between the opposing armies, 
the splash of bursting shrapncll, and the fierce neigh- 
ing of wounded artillery-horses, made a picture terri- 
bly grand and sublime, but which my pen utterly fails 
to describe." 

Gradually the fire on our side began to slacken, 
and General Meade, learning that our guns were be- 
coming hot, gave orders to cease firing and to let the 
guns cool, though the Rebel balls were making fear- 
ful havoc among our gunners, while our infantry 
sought poor shelter behind every projection, anxiously 
awaiting the expected charge. At length the enemy, 
supposing that our guns were silenced, deemed that 
the moment for an irresistible attack had come. Ac- 
cordingly, as a lion emerges from his lair, he sallied 
forth, when strong lines of infantry, nearly three 
miles in length, with double lines of skirmishers in 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 2G9 

front, and heavy reserves in rear, advanced with des- 
peration to the final effort. They moved with steady, 
measured tread over the plain below, and began the 
ascent of the hills occupied by our forces, concentrat- 
ing somewhat upon General Hancock, though stretch- 
ing across our entire front. 

Says a correspondent of the Richmond Enquirer : 
" Just as Pickett was getting well under the enemy's 
(ire, our batteries ceased firing. This was a fearful 
moment for Pickett and his brave command. Why 
do not our guns re-open their fire ? is the inquiry that 
rises upon every lip. Still, our batteries are silent as 
death !" And this undoubtedly decided the issue — 
was God's handwriting on the wall. The Rebel guns 
had been thundering so long and ceaselessly that they 
were now unfit for use, and ceased firing from very 
necessity. 

" Agate," the correspondent of The Cincinnati Ga- 
zette, gives the following graphic description of the 
struggle : 

" The great, desperate, final charge came at four. 
The Rebels seemed to have gathered up all their 
strength and desperation for one fierce, convulsive ef- 
fort, that should sweep over and wash out our obsti- 
nate resistance. They swept up as before ; the flower 
of their army to the front, victory staked upon the is- 
sue. In some places they literally lifted up and pushed 
back our lines ; but, that terrible position of ours ! — 
wherever they entered it, enfilading fires from half a 
score of crests swept away their columns like merest 
chaff. Broken and hurled back, they easily fell into 
our hands ; and, on the center and left, the last half 
hour brought more prisoners than all the rest. 



270 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

" So it was along the whole line ; but it was on the 
Second Corps that the flower of the Rebel army was 
concentrated; it was there that the heaviest shock 
beat upon, and shook, and even sometimes crumbled, 
our lines. 

" We had some shallow rifle-pits, with barricades 
of rails from the fences. The Rebel line, stretching 
away miles to the left, in magnificent array, but 
strongest here — Pickett's splendid division of Long- 
street's corps in front, the best of A. P. Hill's veter- 
ans in support — came steadily, and as it seemed re- 
sistlessly, sweeping up. Our skirmishers retired 
slowly from the Emmitsburg road, holding their 
ground tenaciously to the last. The rebels reserved 
their fire till they reached this same Emmitsburg 
road, then opened with a terrific crash. From a hun- 
dred iron throats, meantime, their artillery had been 
thundering on our barricades. 

" Hancock was wounded ; Gibbon succeeded to the 
command — an approved soldier, and ready for the 
crisis. As the tempest of fire approached its height, 
he walked along the line, and renewed his orders to 
the men to* reserve their fire. The Rebels — three 
lines deep — came steadily up. They were in point- 
blank range. 

" At last the order came ! From thrice six thous- 
and guns there came a sheet of smoky flame, a crash, 
a rush of leaden death. The line literally melted 
away ; but there came the second, resistless still. It 
had been our supreme effort; on the moment we were 
not equal to another. 

" Up to the rifle-pits, across them, over the barri- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 271 

cades — tlio momentum of their charge, the mere ma- 
chine-strength of their combined action, swept them 
on. Our thin line could fight, hut it had not weight 
enough to oppose to this momentum. It was pushed 
behind the guns. Right on came the Rebels. They 
were upon our guns — were bayoneting the gunners — 
were waving their flags over our pieces. 

" But they had penetrated to the fatal point. A 
storm of grape and canister tore its way from man to 
man, and marked its track with dead bodies straight 
down their line! They had exposed themselves to 
the enfilading fire of the guns on the western slope of 
Cemetery Hill ; that exposure sealed their fate. 

" The line reeled back — disjointed already — in an 
instant in fragments. Our men were just behind the 
guns. They leaped forward upon the disordered 
mass ; but there was little need of fighting now. A 
regiment threw down its arms, and, with colors at 
its head, rushed over and surrendered. All along 
the field smaller detachments did the same. Webb's 
brigade brought in eight hundred ; taken in as little 
time as it requires to write the simple sentence that 
tells it. Gibbon's old division took fifteen stand of 
colors. 

" Over the fields the escaped fragments of the 
charging line fell back — the battle there was over. 
A single brigade, of which the Seventh Michigan is 
part, came out with fifty-four less officers, and seven 
hundred and ninety-three less men, than it took 
in ! So the whole corps fought ; so, too, they fought 
farther down the line. 

" It was fruitless sacrifice. They gathered up their 



272 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

broken fragments, formed their lines, and slowly 
marched away. It was not a rout ; it was a bitter, 
crushing defeat. For once the Army of the Potomac 
had won a clean, honest, acknowledged. victory." 

General Pickett's division was nearly annihilated. 
One of his officers recounted that, as they were 
charging over the grassy plain, he threw himself 
down before a murderous discharge of grape and 
canister, which mowed the grass and men all around 
him, as though a scythe had been swung just above 
his prostrate form. 

During the terrific cannonade and subsequent 
charges, our ammunition and other trains had been 
parked in rear of Round Top, which gave them 
splendid shelter. Partly to possess this train, but 
mainly to secure this commanding position, General 
Longstreet sent two strong divisions of infantry, with 
heavy artillery, to turn our flank, and to drive us 
from this ground. Kilpatrick, with his division, 
which had been strengthened by Merritt's Regular 
brigade, was watching this point and waiting for 
an opportunity to strike the foe. It came at last. 
Emerging from the woods in front of him came a 
strong battle-line, followed by others. 

DEATH OF GENERAL FARNSWORTH. 

To the young Farnsworth was committed the task 
of meeting infantry with cavalry in an open field. 
Placing the Fifth New York in support of Elder's 
battery, which was exposed to a galling fire, but 
made reply with characteristic rapidity, precision, 
and slaughter, Farnsworth quickly ordered the First 




ft! 1 
ilis 

■V 



HH 



. liii'i'iiillliliilnllllllililllllllllllll 



BATTLES FOE THE UNIOX. 275 

Virginia, the First Vermont, and Eighteenth Penn- 
sylvania in line of battle, and galloped away and 
charged upon the flank of the advancing columns. 
The attack was sharp, brief, and successful, though 
attended with great slaughter. But the Rebels were 
driven upon their main lines and the flank movement 
was prevented. Thus the cavalry added another 
dearly earned laurel to its chaplet of honor — dearly 
earned, because many of their bravest champions fell 
upon that bloody field. 

Kilpatrick, in his official report of this sanguinary 
contest, says : " In this charge fell the brave Farns- 
worth. Short and brilliant was his career. On the 
twenty-ninth of June a general ; on the first of July 
he baptized his star in blood ; and on the third, for 
the honor of his young brigade and the glory of his 
Corps, he yielded up his noble life." 

Thus ended the battle of Gettysburg — the bloody 
turning-point of the Rebellion — the bloody baptism 
of the redeemed Republic. Nearly twenty thousand 
men from the Union ranks had been killed and 
wounded, and a larger number of the Rebels, making 
the enormous aggregate of at least forty thousand, 
whose blood was shed to fertilize the Tree of Liberty. 

In the evening twilight of that eventful day, Gen- 
eral Meade penned the following interesting despatch 
to the Government : 

Headquarters Army of the Potomac, 
Near Gettysburg, July 3, 8.30 p. M. 
To Major - General Halleck, Oeneral-in- Chief : 

The enemy opened at one o'clock, p. m., from about one 
hundred and fifty guns. They concentrated upon my left cen- 



276 BATTLES FOR THE VNlOJt. 

ti r. continuing -without intermission for about three hours, at 
the expiration of which time he assaulted my left center twice, 
being, upon both occasions, handsomely repulsed with severe 
loss to them, leaving in our hands nearly three thousand pris- 
oners. Among the prisoners are Major-General Armistead, and 
many colonels and officers of lesser note. The enemy left 
many dead upon the field, and a large number of wounded in 
our hands. The loss upon our side has been considerable 
Major-General Hancock and Brigadier-General Gibbon wer. 
wounded. 

Alter the repelling of the assault, indications leading to 
the belief that the enemy might be withdrawing, an armed 
reconnoissance was pushed forward from the left, and the 
enemy found to be in force. At the present hour all is quiet. 

The New York cavalry have been engaged all day on both 
flanks of the enemy, harassing and vigorously attacking him 
with great success, notwithstanding they encountered superior 
numbers, both of cavalry and artillery. The army is in fine 
spirits. 

ouge G. Meade, 
- . leral Command 

On the morning of the Fourth of July, General 
Meade issued an address to the army : 

IIEADQ.UAF.TEF.S AjBMY OF TILE PoTOilAC. 

Xear Gettysburg. July 4. 

The commanding general, in behalf of the country, thanks 
the Army of the Potomac for the glorious result of the recent 
operations. Our enemy, superior in numbers and flushed with 
the pride of a successful invasion, attempted to overcome or 
destroy this army. Utterly baffled and defeated, he has now 
withdrawn from the cor.: 

The privations and fatigues the army has endured, and the 
heroic courage and gallantry it has displayed, will be mat 
of history to be ever remembered. 

Our task is not yet accomplished, and the commanding 
general looks to the army for greater efforts to drive from our 
soil every vestige of the presence of the invader. 



BATTLES FOR TIIE UNION. 277 

It is right and proper that we should, on suitable occasions, 
return our grateful thanks to the Almighty Disposer of events, 
that, in the goodness of His providence, He has thought fit to 
give victory to the cause of the just. 

By command of Majob-Geneeal Meade. 

S. Williams, A. A. -General 

It is fitting that we should close this chapter 
with President Lincoln's brief yet comprehensive 
announcement to the country : 

Washington, D. C, July 4, 1863, 10 a.m. 
The President of the United States announces to the coun- 
try that the news from the Army of the Potomac, up to ten 
o'clock p. m., of the third, is such as to cover the army with 
the highest honor-to promise great success to the cause of 
the Union— and to claim the condolence of all for the many 
o-allant fallen; and that for this he especially desires that on 
this day, " He whose will, not ours, should ever be done," be 
everywhere remembered and reverenced with the profoundest 
gratitude. Abbaham Lincoln. 

12 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

VIOKSBURG. 

The Impregnable Stronghold.— The Batteries of the Bluff.— The 
Siege Begun. — A Reign of Terror. — Assault of the Nineteenth. — 
Distributing Rations. — Assault of the Twenty-second. — Desperate 
"Work. — Sergeant Griffith and the Brave Eleven. — Union Colors 
on Enemy's Bastion. — McPherson's Losses. — Failure to Carry the 
Works.— Six Weeks' Siege.— The Enemy Starved Out.— The White 
Elag. — Surrender. — Grant's Triumphant Entrance into Vicksburg. 
— "Rally Round the Flag." — Close of the Campaign. — Lincoln's 
Letter. 

A T a distance of three hundred and ninety-five 
J\. miles above the mouth of the Mississippi River, 
on a high bluff, facing westward, and rising nearly a 
hundred feet above the level of the water, lies the 
city of Vicksburg — a stronghold which for the first 
two years of the war defied all assault. Its formid- 
able defences united to its natural strength of posi- 
tion, rendered its reduction a work of difficulty and 
danger. But on our National Anniversary of 1868, 
this mighty citadel, so long secure, on its embattled 
bluff, surrendered to superior strategy and skill, 
and the celebration of that " Glorious Fourth " by 
the soldiers of Vicksburg contained an element of 
patriotic fervor which only a fresh victory in the 
cause of freedom could give. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 279 

The rise of the river bank at that point is gradual 
for about two miles back, and on this inclined slope 
lies the town — cradled in a hollow of the bluff. On 
the bluff below the city, a fort mounting eight guns 
guarded the approach from beneath, while on the 
height above, a formidable, three-banked battery 
bristled with tiers of guns, rising one above the 
other, from a point half way down the slope to the 
summit. Each tier contained four heavy guns, and 
ditches and rifle-pits helped to make up the defences. 

The combined forces of Pemberton and Price, esti- 
mated at fifty thousand men, were in possession of 
the city. Their guns were estimated at one hundred 
and sixty. 

For six weeks previous to July fourth, 1863, 
General Grant had been occupied with the siege of 
Vicksburg, which he pressed energetically. 

Every day further progress was made in digging 
and mining, and at length he reached a point where 
his batteries could send their screaming shells directly 
to the heart of the city. A reign of terror then took 
possession of the town, and its inhabitants dug for 
themselves caves in the earth, seeking protection 
against the missiles of destruction which daily and 
nightly dropped in their midst. Meantime, rumors 
were current that Johnston, with heavy reenforce- 
ments, was to attack our forces in the rear and if 
possible raise the seige. This, in connection with 
other reasons, determined Grant to try an assault at 
once. Accordingly, at two o'clock in the afternoon 
of May nineteenth, a general attack was ordered on 
the land-ward fortifications of Vicksbum - . 



280 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

General Grant, in his report of that attempt, gives 
his reasons for the movement. He says : — " I be- 
lieved an assault from the position gained by this 
time conld be made successfully. It was known that 
Johnston was at Canton with the force taken by him 
from Jackson, reenforced by other troops from the 
east, and that more were daily reaching him. With 
the force I had, a short time must have enabled him 
to attack me in the rear, and possibly to succeed in 
raising the siege. Possession of Vicksburg at that 
time would have enabled me to have turned upon 
Johnston and driven him from the State, and possess 
myself of all the railroads and practical military 
highways, thus effectually securing to ourselves all 
territory west of the Tombigbee — and this before the 
season was too far advanced for campaigning in this 
latitude. It would have saved Government sending 
large reinforcements much needed elsewhere ; and 
finally, the troops themselves were impatient to pos- 
sess Vicksburg, and would not have worked in the 
trenches with the same zeal, believing it unnecessary , 
that they did after their failure to carry the enemy" s 
works." 

But the attack of the nineteenth only resulted in a 
slight advance of our besieging army towards the 
Confederate fortifications. Blair's division of Sher- 
man's Corps succeeded in placing their colors on the 
enemy's ramparts, — the Thirteenth Regulars of 
Smith's brigade paying the terrible price of seventy- 
seven men out of two hundred and fifty, for the bloody 
attempt. The outer line of Confederate defences were 
also carried by the Eighty-third Indiana, Colonel 






battles for the union. 281 

Spooncr, and the One-hundred and Twenty-seventh 
Illinois, Colonel Eldridge. Though they were unable 
to enter the works they yet succeeded in holding their 
ground till night. The remaining regiments were 
only successful in gaining a closer position to the 
almost impregnable fortifications. General Sherman 
seeing his troops slaughtered to no purpose, ordered 
them to retire a short distance and take shelter be- 
hind the broken ground. 

The two days succeeding this abortive attempt were 
occupied in artillery firing and in distributing an ad- 
vance supply of rations ; and on May twenty-second, 
at ten o'clock in the morning, a simultaneous assault 
by the entire besieging force, was made at all points. 
Five batteries poured their deadly fire on the Rebel 
bastion commanding our approach. The sharpshoot- 
ers were in the advance, and a storming party carry- 
ing poles and boards to bridge the ditch, followed 
them. 

Frank Blair's division led Sherman's attack — the 
brigade of General Hugh S. Ewing, Thirtieth Ohio, 
having the advance, followed by the regiments of Giles 
Smith and T. Kilby Smith. 

The storming party of this corps pressed forward 
to the angle of the bastion in their front without 
attack and " passed towards the sally-port, when there 
shot up behind the parapet, a double rank of the ene- 
my, who poured on the head of the column a fire that 
swept it down in an instant. No troops could or 
should persist in braving such utter, useless destruc- 
tion. The rear of the column attempted to rush on ; 
but it was madness ; and soon, all had sought cover 



282 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

from that deadly fire." But notwithstanding this 
murderous work, the men of Ewing's command 
crossed the ditcli on the left of the bastion, and clam- 
bering up its outer wall, planted their flag near the 
top. 

Holes dug in the hill-side sheltered them from fire 
in their flank. The brigade of Giles Smith, further 
on the left, under cover of a ravine, re-formed in line 
of battle, ready to again make an assault, while Kilby 
Smith deployed his men on an eminence near by and 
kept up a tire on the parapet. 

An attempt by the brigades of Giles Smith and 
Eansome, to take the parapet by assault resulted only 
in defeat and loss. Half a mile away on the right, 
the division of Steele was fighting splendidly, but 
without result. On our left, the efforts of McClcr- 
nand were, for a time, at least, more successful. 
Within fifteen minutes after his assault, the ditch in 
front of the fort they attacked, was crossed and the 
slope and bastion carried. Sergeant Griffith of the 
Twenty-second Iowa, with eleven privates succeeded 
in effecting an entrance. But their desperate bravery 
was at the cost of their lives — every one falling within 
the fort except the sergeant, who brought thirteen 
prisoners. " The colors of the Forty-eighth Ohio and 
Seventy-seventh Illinois were planted on the bastion ; 
and within the next quarter of an hour, the brigades of 
Benton and Burbridge, fired by this example, had car- 
ried the ditch and slope of another strong earthwork, 
planting their colors on the slope ; while Captain 
White of the Chicago Mercantile Battery, carried for- 
ward one of his guns by hand to the ditch, double- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £83 

shotted it and fired it into an embrasure, disabling a 
Rebel gun ready to be fired, and doubtless doing exe- 
cution among its gunners. McClernand supposed his 
assault successful, and reported to Grant that he had 
carried two of the Rebel forts ; and again, " We 
have gained the enemy's intrenchments at several 
points, but are brought to a stand ;" at the same time 
asking for reinforcements. Grantj when he received 
the first despatch, immediately ordered the assault 
on Sherman's front (where he then was) to be re- 
newed, while he started back to his original position 
with McPherson in the center, which he had not 
reached when he received from McClernand the fur- 
ther message above cited ; whereupon, though dis- 
trusting its accuracy, he ordered Quinby's division of 
McPherson's corps to report to McClernand." 

Mower's brigade having been sent up to carry the 
fort where Swing's force had met with repulse, suc- 
ceeded in planting the colors of the Eleventh Missouri 
regiment beside those of Blair's command, and until 
dark the National colors floated on the breeze under 
the guns of the beleaguered city. The command of 
Steele failed to carry the bastioned fort in their front, 
but gained possession of the hill-side below, remaining 
there until night, when they were withdrawn with the 
rest. The heavy losses in McPherson's command in 
the center, told the story of his daring bravery ; but 
every effort was fruitless, save in carnage. The 
divisions of Osterhaus and Hovey had been driven 
behind the shelter of a ridge by the enfilading fire of 
the enemy. 

McArthur's division, ordered to reinforce McCler- 



28-4 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

nancl's, did not reach Vicksburg until next morning, 
and Quinby's two brigades did not come up until 
nearly dark. Colonel Boomer, commanding one of 
the brigades was killed while leading his men into 
action. 

At eight o'clock in the evening our forces were re- 
called from their advanced positions after having 
suffered a loss of three thousand men. 

General Grant in his report of the campaign speaks 
in the following language of the attack of the twenty- 
second : — " The assault of this day proved the quality 
of the soldiers of this army. Without entire success 
and with a heavy loss, there was no murmuring or 
complaining, no falling back, nor other evidence of 
demoralization. After the failure of the twenty- 
second, I determined upon a regular siege. The 
troops now being fully awake to the necessity of this, 
worked diligently and cheerfully. The work pro- 
gressed rapidly and satisfactorily until the third of 
July, when all was about ready for a final assault." 

To the citizens of the beleaguered city the scene as 
described by one of its inmates, was ' awfully sub- 
lime and terrific' There had been no lull in the 
shelling all night"; and as daylight approached, it grew 
more rapid and furious. Early in the morning too, the 
battle began to rage in the rear. A terrible onslaught 
was made on the center first, and then extended far- 
ther to the left, where a terrific struggle took place, 
resulting in the repulse of the attacking party. Four 
gunboats also came up to engage the batteries. * * 
Three points were attacked at once ; to wit, the rifle- 
pits by the enemy in the rear ; the city by the mortars 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 285 

opposite ; and the batteries by the gun-boats. Such 
cannonading and shelling, has perhaps scarcely ever 
been equaled ; and the city was entirely untenable 
though women and children were on the streets. It 
was not safe from behind or before, and every part of 
the city was alike within range of the Federal guns. 
The gun-boats withdrew after a short engagement ; 
but the mortars kept up the shelling and the armies 
continued lighting all day. * * * * The in- 
cessant booming of camion and the banging of small 
arms, intermingled with the howling of shells, and the 
whistling of Minie-balls, made the day truly most hid- 
eous." 

Vicksburg was now surrounded and its downfall was 
only a question of time. Day by day the siege was 
pushed vigorously forward— the digging and mining 
going steadily on. 

Porter's gunboats, with thirteen-inch mortars and 
one-hundred-pound Parrot guns, safely anchored un- 
der the high bank below Vicksburg, sentineled the river 
above and below. A three-gun battery on the penin- 
sula opposite, played havoc with the Confederate gar- 
rison, burning up their shot and shell foundery. While 
the enemy's forts were being mined, counter mines 
were dug by them and the sound of their picks could 
be heard through the thin wall of earth which separa- 
ted the hostile armies. For six weeks our batteries 
never ceased dropping their shot and shell on the 
doomed city. Food became scarce and the "inhabi- 
tants grew Avan and thin in their narrow dens." At 
last the enemy's ammunition gave out, and Pemberton, 
despairing of Johnston's aid in raising the siege and 

12* 



286 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

believing that Grant was ready for another assault on 
his works, hung out a white flag in front of General 
A. J. Smith's division. This was on the third of July. 
On sending forward to learn the meaning of the white 
flag, they were informed that General Bowcn and Col- 
onel Montgomery of Pembcrton's staff, were bearers 
of a communication to General Grant. The officers 
were then conducted blindfolded to the tent of Gen- 
eral Burbridge and their message was delivered to 
General Grant. It proved to be an application for an 
armistice with a view to arranging terms of capitula- 
tion. But General Grant was prompt and decided in 
his response. He would have nothing but uncondi- 
tional surrender. However, a meeting was arranged 
to take place between Grant and Pemberton at three 
o'clock in the afternoon of that day. They met " mid- 
way between the lines under a gigantic oak, while the 
two armies left their places of concealment and 
swarmed upon the ramparts to witness this extraordi- 
nary scene. Pemberton was the first to speak and 
asked Grant what terms he proposed. " Uncondi- 
tional surrender," was the prompt reply. " Never," 
rejoined the haughty Rebel, " so long as I have a man 
left me." 

" Then," said Grant, " you can continue the defence : 
my army was never in a better condition to continue 
the siege." 

After some further conversation the interview termi- 
nated without coming to definite result, Grant saying 
he would confer with his officers. He did so t and sent 
a note saying that the entire surrender of the place 
and garrison would be required, but that the troops 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 287 

would be paroled and allowed to march out of the 
lines — the officers taking with them their regimental 
clothing, and the staff, and field, and cavalry officers a 
horse each. The proposal was accepted, and, on the 
morning of the Fourth of July, General McPherson 
met Pemberton half a mile within the lines to receive 
the surrender. General Grant soon rode up and the 
trio went together into the town where General Logan 
established a provost-guard. The enemy's flag was 
hauled down and the stars and stripes went up over 
the captured works amid the enthusiastic cheers of the 
boys in blue. At half past eleven o'clock of that 
eventful morning our National banner shook out its 
folds to the breeze from the top of the Court House, 
while the soldiers, standing beneath its emblematic 
colors, sang " Rally round the Flag," with a fervor 
which only a fresh victory for that banner of freedom 
could lend. 

By three o'clock in the afternoon our forces had 
entire possession of the city and bluff, and the Con- 
federate soldiers, after being paroled, and supplied 
with three day's rations, were escorted out of the town 
and across the Big Black, on their way to Jackson. 
The number of prisoners on parole from the capture 
of Vicksburg was estimated at t\yenty-seveii thousand, 
— only fifteen thousand being fit for duty. 

The surrender of Vicksburg ended one of the most 
brilliant and successful campaigns of the war, and the 
name of Grant, surrounded with a halo which had 
scarcely reached its zenith of brightness at the close 
of the rebellion, was already beloved of the nation. 
This chapter cannot more appropriately close than 



288 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

with the letter which President Lincoln wrote to the 
General of our armies after this campaign. It is 
dated at the 

"Executive Mansion, Washington, 

July 13th, 18G3. 
"Major General Grant : 

" My dear General : — I do not remember that you and I ever 
met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledg- 
ment for the almost inestimable service you have done the 
country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached 
the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you 
finally did — march the troops across the neck, run the batteries 
with the transports and thus go below : and I never had any 
faith except a general hope that you knew better than I, that 
the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could succeed. When 
you got below, and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and vicinity 
I thought you should go down the river and join General 
Banks, and when you turned northward, east of the Big Black, 
I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal 
acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong. 

A. LINCOLN." 



CHAPTER XXX. 

:f>o:flt hudson 

The Citadel on the Bluffs.— Four Miles of Batteries.— The Pledge of 
the Northwest.— First Operations against Port Hudson.— The 
Stronghold Invested.— General Assault.— Repulse and Loss- 
Bravery of Officers and Men.— Colonel Bartlett —Heroic Conduct 
of Colored Troops.— The Siege Carried Forward.— Gloomy Out- 
look.— Another General Assault.— Heavy Losses.— The Enemy 
Starving.— The Delicacies of a Rat Stew.— Announcement of the 
Surrender of Vicksburg — The Council of War in the Camp on the 
Bluffs.— Unconditional Surrender of Port Hudson.—" Flag of Union 
and Freedom Wave !" — The Promise of the Northwest Redeemed. 

DURING the stormy days of the civil war, when Re- 
bellion flaunted its red flag over our fair land, Port 
Hudson, on the Lower Mississippi, was one of its fast- 
nesses. Situated at a point twenty-five miles north 
of Baton Rouge in Louisiana, and nearly a hundred 
and sixty miles by water above New Orleans, Port 
Hudson, secure behind its strong earthworks, grimly 
guarded all hostile approach — a very Gibralter of de- 
fence. 

Along its bluffs, commanding four miles of river 
distance, a line of death-dealing batteries sentineled 
the shore. The approach to the little village from the 
landward side, back of the town, was like ascending 
the hill Difficulty. Ravines and swamps and other 
obstructions stubbornly contested every step of the 
way, while an army of thirteen thousand men gar- 



290 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

risoned its strongly fortified heights. Before the capit- 
ulation of Vicksburg, the Confederates had exclusive 
control of the Mississippi River between that point 
and Port Hudson — a stretch of two hundred and 
fifty miles. Across this country, various essential ar- 
ticles of supply were transmitted from Texas, for the 
benefit of the Rebel armies, and by its occupation the 
great Northwest was robbed of one of its main ave- 
nues of outlet. Port Hudson, with threatening guns, 
barred the ascent of the river as Vicksburg barred its 
descent, and it was of the greatest importance to the 
country at large and to our armies, that this arterial 
channel should be opened from its source in the far 
north to its mouth at the gulf ; and to this end the 
patriotic men of the northwest had pledged them- 
selves. 

As early as the month of March, 1863, operations 
against Port Hudson were in progress, and on the 
thirteenth, General Banks marched his command from 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, towards that stronghold, his 
object being a diversion in favor of Farragut's fleet, 
then endeavoring to force a passage up the river. 
Three divisions under Generals Augur, Grover, and 
Emory bivouacked on the night of the thirteenth 
within sound of the guns on the bluff. A detach- 
ment under Colonel Molineaux, diverging on the 
Clinton road, encountered a Confederate force at Cy- 
press Bayou Bridge, and a skirmish ensued which re- 
sulted in the retirement of the enemy with a loss of 
eleven killed and wounded. On the fourteenth the 
boats Hartford and Albatross of the fleet, passed up 
the river and General Banks ordered a return to Baton 



BATTLES FOR THE CNIOX. 291 

Rouge, having accomplished the object of his move- 
ment. 

On May twentieth — the day after Vicksburg was 
invested by Grant's besieging army, the troops under 
General Banks again marched on Port Hudson and 
two days afterwards drew their lines closely about 
it in regular seige. 

On the twenty-fifth, Banks sent the Seventh Illi- 
nois Cavalry under Colonel Price, to destroy the 
boats Red Chief and Starlight, which were anchored 
just above Port Hudson in Big Sandy Creek, near its 
confluence with the Mississippi. 

The object of this order was to cut off the water 
communication and encircle the place by land forces. 

The troops of General Banks took position around 
this stronghold, beginning at the extreme north- 
western end of the town and continuing in a south- 
easterly direction. General Augur had the center, 
General Grover the right, and General T. W. Sher- 
man the left wing. 

As the first red rays of morning shot athwart the 
sky on May twenty-seventh, the booming of cannon 
in a simultaneous burst from the batteries of the en- 
tire line, woke the echoes of the river bluffs and an- 
nounced the assault of Port Hudson begun. The fire 
did not slacken until one o'clock in the afternoon, at 
which time an assault on the enemy's left was or- 
dered, in which General Sherman was to co-operate, 
making an attack at the same time on the Union left. 
The field through which they were obliged to pass in 
order to make the attack was thickly strewn with 
trees recently felled, through whose obstructing 



292 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

branches our troops advanced in the face of shot and 
shell from the batteries of the enemy across the field. 
Mounted officers got down from their horses and led 
them through this difficult passage, for they could go 
forward in no other way ; while over them rained a 
furious storm of shot and shell. For two hours this 
deadly fire was braved by the heroic men struggling 
over the dangerous ground ; after which with repulse 
and loss they were withdrawn. " Colonel Bartlett of 
the Forty-ninth Massachusetts, having lost his leg, 
was compelled to go on horseback, or not at all. The 
enemy was so struck with his bravery that orders were 
issued not to shoot him." A little later in the day, 
Sherman's attack on the left was equally disastrous, 
the General losing a leg in the engagement and his 
command suffering heavy losses. 

The attacking column on the right included the col- 
ored regiments raised by Banks. Of their bravery on 
that day their commanding general bears this testi- 
mony : " In many respects," said he, " their conduct 
was heroic ; no troops could be more determined or 
daring." "There had been so much incredulity 
avowed as to negro courage, so much wit lavished on 
the idea of negroes fighting to any purpose, that Gen- 
eral Banks was justified in according especial com- 
mendation to these." 

The Union loss in this assault was reported at one 
thousand and the enemy's loss at six hundred. 
Among the killed was Colonel Clarke of the Sixth 
Michigan, and Colonel D. S. Cowles of the One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-eighth New York — transfixed by a 
bayonet : — Colonel Payne, Second Louisiana and Col- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 293 

onel Chapin, Thirtieth Massachusetts. General T. 
"W. Sherman was severely wounded and General Neal 
Dow slightly. On the twenty-eighth there was a ces- 
sation of hostilities for the purpose of burying the 
dead. 

After this the work of digging their way to victory 
went earnestly forward. Zig-zag trenches were pushed 
up to the Rebel fortifications by the toilers in array 
blue, working under the relentless rays of a June 
sun ; while our siege guns, co-operating with the artil- 
lery of the fleet, sent their thunders echoing along the 
shore. For two weeks this work went on ; but the 
chances of bringing the siege to a successful conclu- 
sion were full of doubt. The outlook was gloomy. 
The small army of Banks — now dwindled down to 
twelve thousand — was isolated in a hostile country. 
4. force of twenty-five hundred Rebel cavalry occu- 
pied a position in close proximity to the Union rear, 
and the well-garrisoned fortress of the blmT, nearly 
impregnable by assault, faced them with threatening 
batteries, in front. The concentration of forces for 
this siege had left most of the territory of Louisiana, 
f rom whence Dick Taylor had been lately driven, an 
open problem for him to solve, retracing his steps 
across the state if he liked, conscripting and raiding 
as he went, with the added possibility of capturing 
New Orleans as the sum of the problem. 

Georgia and Alabama might supply force enough to 
raise the siege, while Joe Johnston was liable to come 
down from Jackson at any time with a command of 
sufficient strength to quench any hope of success. 
The Confederate line of defence extended for a dis- 



094 BA TTLES FOR THE UNION. 

tancc of four miles around Port Hudson, while the 
Union lines, encircling theirs, were still longer, and a 
strategic concentration of their forces at any one 
point of the garrison must necessarily make it stronger 
at such a point than all the force that could be rallied 
against it. The Mississippi had fallen to the unusual 
depression of twenty-eight feet, which interfered with 
the " efficiency of the gun-boats and the means of ob- 
taining supply." The capture of the garrison of 
Brashear City on the morning of June twenty-third, 
by a large Confederate force which had come up in 
rear of the Union army during the previous night, 
cut off the Federal occupation of Louisiana west of 
the Mississippi. The enemy, meantime, harrassing 
the communication between New Orleans and Port 
Hudson, had captured a quantity of supplies, fifty 
miles above the gulf, destined for the besieging army. 
Surrounded with such a combination of adverse prob- 
abilities — with Lee triumphant at Chancellorsville and 
Grant defied at Vicksburg, the prospect of continuing 
the siege at Port Hudson, looked exceedingly uncer- 
tain. Still, the besiegers worked steadily and earn- 
estly on. After two weeks of digging and firing " a 
fresh attempt was made, under a heavy fire of artil- 
lery, to establish our lines within attacking distance 
of the enemy's works, so as to avoid the heavy losses 
incurred in moving over the ground in their front. 
Our men advanced at three o'clock in the morning, 
working their way through the difficult abattis ; but 
the movement was promptly detected by the enemy, 
and defeated, with the loss on our side of some scores 
as prisoners." On June fourteenth — four days later — 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £95 

another united assault was ordered. General Grover 
was to make the attack in front, while Dwight and 
Augur were ordered to make feints on the extreme 
left. The attacks were made, with a loss of three 
hundred men, and were successful only in advancing 
our position to an average distance of from fifty to 
two hundred yards nearer the Confederate batteries. 
At this point new intrenchments were dug and new 
batteries erected. On our left, a high position known 
as the " Citadel" was carried, by which Dwight was 
enabled to occupy the ground on the same ridge 
within ten yards of the enemy's lines. An exploding 
shell was dropped into the mill of the garrison, and 
the building, with its two hundred bushels of corn 
burned to the ground. 

The field over which the attacking column was 
obliged to pass, was " obstructed by an abattis of felled 
trees to which succeeded a ditch forty feet wide with 
six feet of water in it ; and beyond that, a glacis 
about twenty feet high, sloping gradually to the para- 
pet on which was a protection for the sharpshooters : 
behind this, one hundred yards distant, was another 
line of works, on which field and heavy artillery was 
mounted." 

The attack commenced at daylight. Our skirmish- 
ers first went forward and deployed on both sides of 
the objective point, while the rest of the command 
followed. The Union troops suffered severely as they 
advanced from the sharp fire of the enemy, but un- 
daunted and brave, they pushed on, in order to gain 
the ditch. The Seventy-Fifth New York reaching the 
ditch encountered a terrible enfilading fire which felled 



296 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

them like blades of grass under a hail storm. Nearly 
all were killed or wounded. The Ninety-first New- 
York, under Colonel Van Zandt, next came up, carry- 
ing their five-pound hand grenades which they threw 
over the Rebel breastworks. Meantime, General 
Weitzel's command moving up, assaulted the works of 
the enemy with desperate valor. But every attack 
was met with repulse. " Brigade after brigade fol- 
lowed in rapid succession, storming the works, until 
compelled to fall back under the terrible fire of the 
enemy." 

At eleven o'clock in the morning the firing ceased, 
the most perceptible result of the battle being its 
dreadful carnage. 

The soldiers of the respective commands dropped 
down behind the shelter of gullies, trees, and every- 
thing that could give them protection from the deadly 
storm of shot from the bluffs, and "waited for the day 
to pass and the darkness to come on. At nightfall, 
our troops commenced the burial of their dead and 
succeeded before morning in carrying most of their 
wounded from the battle-ground. Among the Union 
losses were General Paine and five colonels. The loss 
in killed and wounded was over two thousand." On 
the next day General Banks issued an order calling 
on a volunteer storming party for a last assault. He 
wanted a thousand men to lead in this column of vic- 
tory. The Fourth Wisconsin and Sixth Michigan re* 
sponded to the call and made the attack which resulted 
in their repulse and the capture of most of their number- 
And thus the tedious siege went on — the Union force 
daily losing some men, in addition to the bloody work 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 297 

of the assaults, by the accurate aim of the enemy's ar- 
tillerists and sharpshooters. But slowly and surely, 
step by step, our troops pushed their works up to the 
very line of the enemy's defences, and on our left a 
mine calculated for thirty barrels of powder had been 
placed in a position to explode and destroy the " Cita- 
del." The Confederate garrison had exhausted their 
stores to such an extent that rations of mule meat 
were served to the men, and rats were considered deli- 
cate eating. Their ammunition also began to fail and 
their guns had been disabled by the sure aim of our 
artillerists, until only fifteen out of fifty were fit for 
use. It was impossible that the garrison could hold 
out many days longer except by attacks which would 
raise the siege — and there was no hope of that. 

" Suddenly, on July sixth, our batteries and gun- 
boats shook the heavens with one tremendous salute, 
while cheer upon cheer rose from behind our works, 
rolling from the gun-boats above, to those below the 
defenses, and back again, in billows of unmistakable 
exultation. It was not the ' glorious Fourth,' but two 
days after it : and the sinking hearts of the besieged 
anticipated the tidings before our men shouted across 
to them, " Vicksburg has surrendered ! " No one 
needed to be told that, if such was the truth, further 
resistance was folly — that re-enforcements would soon 
be steaming down the river which would render hold- 
ing out impossible." 

That evening a council of war was held in the Con- 
federate camp in which Gardner was chief, and the 
decision reached was that Port Hudson must be sur- 
rendered. Communication was opened with Banks, 



298 BATTLES FUR THE UNION. 

asking if the news shouted across the lines was true : 
whereupon, General Banks sent to General Gardner 
the letter of Grant announcing the surrender of Vicks- 
burg. Application was then made by Gardner for a 
cessation of hostilities in order to arrange terms of 
capitulation; but this, Banks declined. Gardner then 
asserted his willingness to surrender, and an agree- 
ment was entered into, Avhereby the garrison became 
prisoners of war. On the next day — July ninth — at 
seven o'clock in the morning, formal possession was 
taken of the place by the army of Banks. The troops 
marched in, to the music of the " Star spangled Ban- 
ner," and found the Confederate soldiers drawn up in 
line of battle with their arms stacked in front of them. 
The conquerors and conquered now met on fraternal 
ground, who had confronted each other in mortal com- 
bat before ; and the Union General fed the hungry 
soldiers of the rebellious Confederacy. On the high- 
est bluff of the battle-ground the old flag of freedom 
went up amid the thundered salute of the guns and the 
cheers of our brave soldiers. The loss on our side 
during the entire siege of forty-five days was estima- 
ted at three thousand men ; while General Banks cal- 
culated the Rebel loss at eight hundred or one thou- 
sand. The number of prisoners captured was over six 
thousand, of whom four hundred and fifty-five were 
officers. Fifty guns and nearly forty thousand small 
arms were also captured. 

The following dispatch was received at Washing- 
ton : — 

Vicksburg, Miss., July 11th, 1863. 
" Major General Halleck, General-in-Chief : — 

"The following dispatch has been received from General 
Banks : — 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. £99 

Before Port Hudson, July 8th, 1863. 
" General: — 

The Mississippi is now opened. I have the honor to inform 
3 r ou that the garrison at Port Hudson surrendered uncondition- 
ally this afternoon. "We shall take formal possession at seven 
o'clock in the morning. 

(Signed.) " N. P. BANKS, Major- General. 

"U. S. GRANT, Major- General: 1 

Thus once more the noble Mississippi was opened 
for the free passage of vessels from the land of the 
Northwest down to the sea-board ; the guns of Vicks- 
b.urg and Port Hudson no longer frowned threateningly 
on the National flag ; the Confederate occupation of the 
river ceased for ever and the promise of the men of the 
Northwest was redeemed. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

PJLIjIjIMG -w ^_ t e n s. 

Kilpatrick's Advance to Hagerstown. — Lee's Position. — Efforts to 
Cross the Swollen Potomac. — Meade Decides to Attack the Con- 
federates. — The Escape by Night. — Kilpatrick's Discovery. — The 
Cavalry in Motion. — The Encounter at Falling Waters. — The 
Enemy Surprised. — Hard Fighting. — Death of Pettigrew. — Union 
Victory. — Capture of Battle-Flags and Prisoners. — Kilpatrick's 
Letter. 

N the early part of July, 1863, soon after the bril- 
liant engagement at Boonsboro, in which our cav- 
alry under Buford and Kilpatrick distinguished them- 
selves by their splendid action, the cavalry force under 
Buford moved to Sharpsburg. This point was then 
the left wing of the Union line of battle. General 
Kilpatrick occupying the extreme right of this line, 
his position commanded the road from Hagerstown to 
Gettysburg. On the twelfth of July, Kilpatrick sup- 
ported by an infantry force from Howard's Corps, 
under General Ames, advanced to Hagerstown, and 
sweeping down on the Confederates at that place, 
drove them from the town and established himself in 
their quarters. This movement shortened our lines 
by a distance of some miles. 

Lee, after being driven from the soil of Pennsyl- 
vania at Gettysburg, occupied a strong natural position 
on the Maryland shore of the Potomac, near Falling 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 301 

Waters. Here he fortified himself behind formidable 
earthworks, and for some days previous to the battle 
had been making strenuous efforts to bridge the swol- 
len waters of the Potomac and cross over to the Vir- 
ginia shore. 

On the thirteenth, General Meade finally decided to 
assault the Rebel position. Orders to the various 
commands had been issued, the necessary dispositions 
completed, and the attack was to have been made on 
the fourteenth of July. 

During the night of the thirteenth, General Kil- 
patrick, while examining his picket line, became con- 
vinced from certain well-known indications, that the 
enemy was leaving his front. 

At once a courier was sent flying to Meade's head- 
quarters, with the intelligence ; but Kilpatrick, without 
waiting for orders, organized his command, and at 
three o'clock on the dark dawn of the fourteenth, the 
cavalry were in motion. At Williamsport, at seven 
o'clock, they encountered a portion of the rear-guard 
of the enemy and drove them into the Potomac. From 
this point they moved rapidly forward and came upon 
the remainder of the Confederate rear-guard one mile 
from Falling Waters. 

The enemy's force consisted of an infantry division 
under Major-general Pettigrew. Like a whirlwind 
Kilpatrick swept down upon the Confederates, taking 
them utterly by surprise and capturing their artillery 
before it could be placed in position. General Petti- 
grew was killed in a sabre charge led by Major Web- 
ber, of the Sixth Michigan. Long and bravely did 
the enemy's infantry struggle to resist and hurl back 

13 



302 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

the wild charges of our cavalry : — but in vain. Over- 
powered by the repeated and furious attacks of Kil- 
patrick they at last broke and fled in confused disor- 
der, and the battle was ours. Pennington's artillery 
was very effective in cooperating with the cavalry in 
this engagement. Fifteen hundred prisoners, two 
guns, and three battle-flags were captured, and the 
dead and wounded of the enemy strewed the ground. 
The fight at Falling Waters gave the parting blow to 
Lee's invading army and sent them in rapid retreat 
through Virginia. 

The following dispatch was sent to Washington by 
General Meade : — 

Headquarters Army of the Potomac. 
July 14, 3 p. m. 
H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief : 

My cavalry now occupy Falling Waters, having overtaken 
and captured a brigade of infantry, fifteen hundred strong, two 
guns, two caissons, two battle-flags, and a large number of 
small-arms. The enemy are all across the Potomac. 

George G. Meade, Major- General. 

Later in the day he sent the following : 

Headquarters Army op the Potomac, 
July 14, 8.30 p. m. 

Major- General Halleck, General-in-Chief : 

My cavalry have captured five hundred prisoners, in addition 
to those previously reported. General Pettigrew, of the Con- 
federate army, was killed this morning in the attack on the 
enemy's rearguard. His body is in our hands. 

G. G. Meade, Major- General. 

These dispatches were afterwards denied by Gene- 
ral Lee in a letter to his authorities, as follows : 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 303 

Headquarters Army op Northern Virginia. 
July , 1863. 

General 8. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector- General C. S. A : 

General: I have seen in the Northern papers what pur- 
ports to be an official dispatch from General Meade, stating 
that he had captured a brigade of infantry, two pieces of 
artillery, two caissons, and a large number of small arms, as 
this army retired to the south bank of the Potomac on the 
thirteenth and fourteenth instant. This dispatch has been 
copied into the Richmond papers ; and, as its official character 
may cause it to be believed, I desire to state that it is incorrect. 
The enemy did not capture any organized body of men on that 
occasion, but only stragglers, and such as were left asleep on 
the road, exhausted by the fatigue and exposure of one of the 
most inclement nights I have ever known at this season of the 
year. It rained without cessation, rendering the road by which 
our troops marched toward the bridge at Falling "Waters very 
difficult to pass, and causing so much delay that the last of the 
troops did not cross the river at the bridge until one a. m. on 
the morning of the fourteenth. 

While the column was thus detained on the road a number 
of men, worn down with fatigue, laid down in barns and by 
the roadside, and though officers were sent back to arouse them 
as the troops moved on, the darkness and rain prevented them 
from finding all, and many were in this way left behind. Two 
guns were left on the road ; the horses that drew them became 
exhausted, and the officers went back to procure others. "When 
they returned, the rear of the column had passed the guns so 
far that it was deemed unsafe to send back for them, and they 
were thus lost. No arms, cannon, or prisoners were taken by 
the enemy in battle, but only such as were left behind, as I have 
described, under the circumstances. The number of stragglers 
thus lost I am unable to state with accuracy, but it is greatly 
exaggerated in the dispatch referred to. 

I am with great respect your obedient servant. 

R. E. Lee, General. 



301 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

This was evidently an attempt, on the part of the 
Rebel leader, to disparage our victories and to wipe 
out of his record, with a sort of legerdemain, the dis- 
graceful and disastrous denoument of his invasion. In 
the following important statement General Meade con- 
firms his position by incontestable facts, and shows 
how the matter stood : 

Headquarters Army op the Potomac. 

Aug , 1863. 

Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief : 

My attention has been called to what purports to be an 
official dispatch of General R. E. Lee, commanding the Rebel 
army, to General S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector-General, 
denying the accuracy of my telegram to you, of July four- 
teenth, announcing the result of the cavalry affair at Falling 
Waters. 

1 have delayed taking any notice of Lee's report until the 
return of Brigadier-General Kilpatrick, absent on leave, who 
commanded the cavalry on the occasion referred to, and on 
whose report from the field my telegram was based. I now en- 
close the official report of Brigadier-General Kilpatrick, made 
after his attention had been called to Lee's report. You will 
see that he reiterates and confirms all that my dispatch averred, 
and proves most conclusively that General Lee has been de- 
ceived by his subordinates, or he would never, in the face of the 
facts now alleged, have made the assertion his report claims. 

It appears that I was in error in stating that the body of 
General Pettigrew was left in our hands, although I did not 
communicate that fact until an officer from the field reported 
to me he had seen the body. It is now ascertained from the 
Richmond papers, that General Pettigrew, though mortally 
wounded in the affair, was taken to Winchester, where he sub- 
sequently died. The three battle-flags captured on this occa- 
sion, and sent to Washington, belonged to the Fortieth, Forty- 
seventh, and Fifty-fifth Virginia regiments of infantry. 

General Lee will surely acknowledge these were not left in 
the hands of stragglers asleep in barns. 

George G. Meade, Major-General Commanding. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 305 

Kilpatrick, in his letter of explanation, referred to 
in the above despatch, gives the following graphic 
account of this last scene in the great drama of the 
invasion : 

Headquarters Third Division Cavalry Corps, 

Warrenton Junction, Va., Aug. . 

To Colonel A. J. Alexander, Chief of Staff of Cavalry Corps: 

Colonel: In compliance with a letter just received from the 
headquarters of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, 
directing me to give the facts connected with the fight at Fall- 
ing Waters, I have the honor to state that, at three a. m. of the 
fourteenth ultimo, I learned that the enemy's pickets were re- 
tiring in my front. Having been previously ordered to attack 
at seven a. m., I was ready to move at once. 

At daylight I had reached the crest of hills occupied by the 
enemy an hour before, and, a few minutes before six, General 
Custer drove the rear-guard of the enemy into the river at Wil- 
liamsport. Learning from citizens that a portion of the enemy 
had retreated in the direction of Falling Waters, I at once 
moved rapidly for that point, and came upwith the rear-guard 
of the enemy at seven thirty a. m., at a point two miles distant 
from Falling Waters. We pressed on, driving them before us, 
capturing many prisoners and one gun. When within a mile 
and a half of Falling Waters, the enemy was found in large 
force, drawn up in line of battle on the crest of a hill, command- 
ing the road on which I was advancing. His left was protected 
by earthworks, and his right extended to the woods on our left. 

The enemy was, when first seen, in two lines of battle, with 
arms stacked within less than one thousand yards of the large 
force. A second piece of artillery, with its support, consisting 
of infantry, was captured while attempting to get into position. 
The gun was taken to the rear. A portion of the Sixth Michi- 
gan Cavalry, seeing only that portion of the enemy behind the 
earthworks charged. This charge was led by Major Webber, 
and was the most gallant ever made. At a trot lie passed up 
the hill, received the fire from the whole line, and the next mo- 
ment rode through and over the earthworks, and passed to the 



306 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

right, sabring the Rebels along the entire line, and returned 
with a loss of thirty killed, wounded, and missing, including 
the gallant Major Webber, killed. 

I directed General Custer to send forward one regiment as 
skirmishers. They were repulsed before support could be sent 
them, and driven back, closely followed by the Rebels, until 
checked by the First Michigan and a squadron of the Eighth 
New York. The Second brigade having come up, it was 
quickly thrown into position, and, after a tight of two hours 
and thirty minutes, routed the enemy at all points and drove 
him toward the river. 

When within a short distance of the bridge, General Buford's 
command came up and took the advance. We lost twenty- 
nine killed, thirty-six wounded, and forty missing. We found 
upon the field one hundred and twenty-five dead Rebels, ancj 
brought away upward of fifty wounded. A large number of 
the enemy's wounded were left upon the field in charge of their 
own surgeons. We captured two guns, three battle-flags, and 
upward of fifteen hundred prisoners. 

To General Custer and his brigade, Lieutenant Pennington 
and his battery, and one squadron of the Eighth New York 
Cavalry, of General Buford's command, all praise is due. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. Kilpatrick, Brigadier- General. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Under the Shadow of Lookout Mountain. — Evacuation of Chattanoo* 
ga. — The Long Battle-line. — Bragg Contests the Union Advance. — 
Disposition of Troops at Chickamauga Creek. — Attack of the Nine- 
teenth. — Fierce Struggle for Position. — Bragg's Attack of the 
Twentieth. — Furious Fighting. — Buckner's Battery and its Deadly- 
Work. — The Union Army Cut in Two. — Thomas on Missionary 
Ridge. — The Storm Breaks. — Desperate Assault of Longstreet. — 
Repulse of the Confederates. — Thomas, Master of the Field. — The 
Enemy in Retreat. — Occupation of Chattanooga. — Letter of Rose- 
crans. 

THE battle fought under the shadow of Lookout 
Mountain on West Chickamauga Creek, Septem- 
ber nineteenth and twentieth, 1863, secured to the 
Federal Government the possession of Chattanooga — 
a strong strategic point on the Tennessee River, and 
one of the three difficult passes in a mountain range 
of forty miles. The occupation of this point and of 
Cumberland Gap furnished a base which commanded 
the States of Tennessee and Kentucky, and also sup- 
plied a key for operations against Alabama, Georgia, 
and South Carolina. 

Bragg had evacuated Chattanooga as a matter of 
necessity, in order to prevent the army of Rosecrans 
from coming between him and his expected reinforce- 
ments. It was an attempt to regain possession of the 
roads leading to Chattanooga, after being reinforced, 



308 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

and also of the town itself, that brought on the battle 
of Chickamauga. 

Crittenden's Corps occupied a position on the 
Creek, near Gordon's Mill, with the entire Confeder- 
ate army in his front. The corps of Thomas was at 
the eastern foot of Lookout Mountain, and McCook 
held Winston's Gap, forty miles away. The army of 
Rosecrans thus occupied all the passes of Lookout 
Mountain from Gordon's Mill to Alpine. 

On the fourteenth of September Bragg had concen- 
trated his forces at Lafayette, Georgia, to contest the 
Union advance, — his army having been reinforced by 
troops from Mississippi, and by the captured garrison 
of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, released on parole 
and declared exchanged by the Confederate authori- 
ties. The Union headquarters, meantime, had been 
established at a place called Crawfish Springs, the 
army being concentrated on West Chickamauga 
Creek. 

When our troops attempted to advance southward 
through the passes of Pigeon Mountain, the enemy 
were discovered to be in force in our immediate front 
beyond the creek. 

Rosecrans and his army occupied the rising ground 
west of the stream, while the enemy held a position 
east of it. On the seventeenth and eighteenth, re- 
connoissances were made which showed that Bragg 
was massing his troops in front of Rosecrans' left and 
center, with the evident purpose of placing himself 
between Chattanooga and the Union army. To coun- 
teract this movement, Rosecrans wheeled his whole 
army back down the creek. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 309 

On Saturday morning, the nineteenth, the Union 
line of battle stretched along the Lafayette and Ross- 
ville road, due north and south — the right resting at 
Gordon's Mills and the left at Kelly's House. " On 
the extreme left was Brannan, next Baird and Rey- 
nolds, with Johnston in reserve in the center, Palmer 
on the right of Reynolds, Van Cleve on his, and Wood 
at Gordon's Mills. The line completed by the divis- 
ions of Davis and Sheridan, faced a little south of 
east. Negley formed a defensive crotchet at Owen's 
Ford, higher up the valley. Detached from this line, 
covering the Ringgold approach to Rossville, the re- 
serve corps under General Gordon Granger, was sta- 
tioned, but not operating with the main column, can 
hardly be said to have formed part of the line of bat- 
tle." The Confederate army reached Chickamauga 
Creek on the eighteenth, after a dusty march of four 
days, having increased their strength by three brig- 
ades under General Hood — Longstreet and his troops 
Hot having yet arrived. At ten o'clock on the morn- 
ing of the nineteenth our left attacked the Confeder- 
ates with the intention of driving them across the 
stream. The battle was a struggle for position, and 
though it lasted until nightfall neither army were suc- 
cessful in gaining the contested ground. The troops 
of Crittenden's corps on the Union side received the 
brunt of the attack, and on the Confederate side, the 
forces under the Irish Major Cleburn — once a private 
in the English army, and at that time risen to the 
rank of Major-General in the Confederate army — 
were the chief contestants. 

" During the night of Saturday, General Rosecrans 
13* 



/ 



31Q BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

made some changes in the disposition of his forces, by 
which the line was so far withdrawn that it rested 
along a crossroad running northeast and southwest, 
and connecting the Rossville with the Lafayette road. 
By this change the line was shortened one mile, and 
the right wing caused to rest on a strong position at 
Mission Ridge. Thomas held the left, Crittenden the 
center, and McCook the right. Upon the right of 
General Thomas' line, as held by Reynolds and Bran- 
nan, was a slight rise in the plain, and from the top 
of this the whole field could be commanded. It was 
the key to the position. During the night, the troops 
of Thomas had built a rude breastwork of logs and 
rails for their protection. General Lytle held Gor- 
don's Mills. 

General Longstreet joined the Confederate force 
on Chickamauga Creek late on the night of the 
nineteenth, and was placed in command of the Con- 
federate left wing. At nine o'clock on the morning 
of the twentieth, the fighting was renewed. 

An attack had been ordered at daybreak, but 
unforeseen obstacles delayed the movement until a 
later hour. Bragg pursued his usual plan of battle at 
Chickamauga, which was to make a successive attack 
along the whole line from right to left. Accord- 
ingly, a furious battle was soon raging around the 
Union left between the veteran troops of Thomas and 
the attacking lines of the enemy. Again and again 
the Confederates charged the Union ranks, behind 
their breastworks of logs and rails, with impetuous 
fury ; but each time they met with repulse. A storm 
of fire and shot from our batteries mowed down the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^\\ 

Confederate ranks with bloody havoc and sent them 
reeling back upon their supports. At eleven o'clock, 
Longstreet had commenced his attack. " Steadily 
advancing, he swept away the head of every forma- 
tion ; though often checked and, for the moment, 
repulsed, again and again he rode to the head of his 
troops, and, hat in hand, rising in his stirrups, with 
voice and gesture animated his men. The Western 
troops were brave and hardy men, the material of as 
fine an army as ever shouldered musket, but could 
not check the attack of Longstreet, who was pressing 
right on for the possession of Chattanooga." Rose- 
crans saw the danger and quickly took measures to 
meet it. "Wood was instantly ordered to the support 
of Reynolds, while Davis and Sheridan moved over 
to the left, and thus closed up the line. Wood, 
though fiercely assaulted, succeeded in reaching his 
destination. The Confederate General Walker dis- 
patched a courier to Longstreet with intelligence 
of this movement, and Buckner's battery of twelve 
pieces was immediately ordered forward. 

Davis, who was coming up to fill Wood's place, 
received the full force of this encounter and was 
driven to the right in disorder by the sudden fury of 
the attack. His command lost heavily in killed and 
wounded. On the right, the onset of the foe was 
equally severe, and the divisions of Yan Cleve and 
Palmer were forced to give way in confusion. " The 
rout of the right and center was now complete, and 
after that fatal break the line of battle was not again 
re-formed during the day." The Union army was 
now cut in. two, the disaster being largely due to the 



312 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

terrible work of Buckner's battery. McCook was 
hurled back to the right and, with the exception 
of one brigade of Wood's, Crittenden's corps was 
broken in pieces. Thomas had formed his line of 
battle in a semi-circular position, with the right at 
the Gap, as the arc of the circle, and a hill near its 
center forming the key to the position. His left 
rested on the Lafayette road. At this point the 
troops which had hurled back the Rebel right in 
the morning were rallied, together with portions of 
Sheriden's and other divisions. 

Longstreet, sweeping onward with a career un- 
checked during the day, now hurled his battalions 
against this position. But Thomas, intrenched be- 
hind his earthworks, held the Ridge securely against 
every assault of the enemy and sent him back with 
terrible repulse. About mid-afternoon, the Confeder- 
ate columns began pouring through a break in the 
Union right flank, but Granger with his reserves 
reaching the field at this time, succeeded in pushing 
them back. 

The storm of battle now broke over Thomas a*nd 
his stalwart men on Missionary Ridge with greater 
fury than before. His troops, formed in two battle- 
lines, advanced to the crest of the Ridge and delivered 
their volleys in rotation. As the deadly rifle-blast of 
one line blazed out on the air with terrible accuracy, 
the men, falling back a little, dropped on the ground 
to re-load, while the second line marched to the 
crest and discharged their fire into the ranks of the 
enemy. With desperate valor the Confederates came 
forward again and again to take by assault this 



BATTLES F OH THE UNION. 3^3 

strong position ; but their efforts were in vain. The 
division of Preston succeeded in partly ascending the 
hill, but was swept back as the previous attacking 
divisions had been, with repulse and loss. 

At last, as twilight darkened the bloody field, the 
enemy retired beyond the range of our artillery, and 
Thomas was master of the situation. The troops of 
McCook and Crittenden had by this time retired 
within the defences of Chattanooga, and during the 
night Thomas fell back to Rossville, " where, on the 
twenty-first, he offered battle to the enemy, who, 
however, declined to renew the contest. Accord- 
ingly, on the night of the twenty-first he withdrew 
his troops into Chattanooga." The total Union loss 
in this battle of Chickamauga, in killed, wounded, 
and missing, was fifteen thousand eight hundred and 
fifty-one men. Thirty-six guns, twenty caissons, and 
several thousand small arms and infantry accoutre- 
ments were also lost, besides two thousand prisoners 
captured. The Rebel loss, as stated by themselves, 
was over eighteen thousand. 

In this bloody battle of Chickamauga, it was 
afterwards well known that the enemy largely out- 
numbered us. General Rosecrans, in a letter written 
concerning the battle, says: — "we fought against 
terrible odds," and estimates the number opposed to 
him in battle at ninety-three thousand. He also says 
that a " Union merchant of Chattanooga who was at 
Marietta when the foe were advancing on us, tried to 
send me word, and subsequently saw and told me 
that the enemy had reenforced Bragg with thirty 
thousand under Longstreet and twenty-five thousand 



314 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

under Joe Johnston, in addition to which Governor 
Brown had fifteen thousand Georgia militia ; and so 
confident were they of overwhelming us that the 
Kentucky and Tennessee Rebel refugees at Marietta 
had hired conveyances and loaded their household 
goods, expecting to follow their victorious hosts back 
into Tennessee and Kentucky. 

" I could add much more corroborative evidence 
to show that the brave and devoted Army of the 
Cumberland sustained and successfully resisted the 
utmost power of a veteran Rebel army, filled with 
the spirit of emulation and hope, and more than 
one-half larger than itself — inflicted on it much 
more damage than we received, and held the coveted 
objective point, Chattanooga. 

" What we attempted, we accomplished. "We took 
Chattanooga from a force nearly as large as our own, 
and held it after our enemy had been reenforced by 
as many men as we had in our whole command." 

After the occupation of this point by the Union 
army, the passes of Lookout Mountain were taken 
possession of by the Confederates, which, together 
with the capture of McMinnville, almost completely 
cut off Rosecrans from his base. 

Why Bragg left so many public buildings stand- 
ing in Chattanooga — so many depots of supply, and 
all his hospitals, besides two steamboats, was cause 
for much speculation and wonder among the Union 
troops when they entered that city ; but these things 
made it evident that his evacuation of Chattanooga 
was only a temporary movement. 

Owing to faulty dispositions of troops, the battle 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 3^5 

of Chickamauga lost to Rosecrans the confidence of 
his Government. He was shorn also of his former 
prestige, and the public dissatisfaction brought about 
a change of commanders. It is a difficult question to 
answer, whether he could have avoided a battle : or, 
having changed the scene of conflict to Chattanooga, 
whether a battle fought there would have brought 
about more favorable results. 

Unlooked for contingencies sometimes arise in the 
best laid plans of men and mice which overturn 
their most reasonable calculations. To ask whether 
certain events, had they happened, would be more 
fruitful in good results than certain other events 
which did transpire, is like propounding the riddle of 
the Sphinx. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
:b n. i s t o e . 

Condition of Meade's Army. — " Going Home to Vote." — Lee's Ad- 
vance. — Cavalry Encounter. — Roast Lamb and Coffee Left Behind. 
— Order for Retreat. — Fight at James City. — Incidents of the Day. — 
On to Washington. — Stuart Hemmed in at Catlett's Station — The 
Pine Thicket.— The Concealed Force.— Hill Entangled.— Battle of 
Bristoe. — Sharp Fighting. — The Confederates Beaten. — Lee in Full 
Retreat. — The Campaign Ended. 

AFTER the memorable battle of Gettysburg, Lee 
retired to the south bank of the Rapidan, where, 
from the first days of July until October tenth, he re- 
mained comparatively inactive save in strengthening 
his resources and recruiting his army. About a month 
previous to this date, some new dispositions of troops 
in the Army of the Potomac were supposed to indi- 
cate a forward movement on the part of General 
Meade ; but all was quiet along the Potomac until the 
middle of the month of October. 

Meantime, on account of important military move- 
ments in Tennessee, reinforcements from Meade's 
army had been sent to help Rosecrans in his South- 
western battles, and the autumn elections of Ohio and 
Pennsylvania caused a large number of troops to be 
furloughed in the interest of the freeman's right of 
elective franchise. Lee, taking advantage of this 
state of affairs, and despite the fact that Longstreet 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 3^7 

had been sent to reenforce Bragg in the West, deter- 
mined on another attempt to accomplish the invasion 
of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Accordingly, on the 
ninth of October, 1863, the army of Lee was in mo- 
tion and crossed the Rapidan with the design of 
bringing on an engagement with Meade, whose troops 
were encamped around Culpepper Court House and 
from that point to the Rapidan. 

The cavalry of Fitzhugh Lee was ordered to remain 
and hold their lines south of the Rapidan, while Gen- 
eral Imboden advanced by way of the Shenandoah 
valley to guard the passes of the mountain. Hamp- 
ton's division of Stuart's cavalry, moving on the right 
of the column, encountered our cavalry under Kil- 
patrick near James City on October tenth. 

It was early in the morning, and steaming break- 
fasts of roast lamb, sweet potatoes, bread, milk, and 
honey were left untasted as our pickets were driven in 
with the intelligence that an attack in force was being 
made in our front. A prompt retreat was ordered 
which was executed in good style, with columns un- 
broken and regiments closed up. At the river sharp 
skirmishing occurred, which deepened into a furious 
battle when we reached a point nearer James City. 
Here the enemy charged us with wild impetuosity, but 
our boys returned the attack with an equally vehe- 
ment counter-charge, repelling their advancing legions 
with the same determined front that had won the day 
on many a previous battle-field. Nightfall at length 
put an end to the conflict which had raged ceaselessly 
since morning with alternate charges, counter-charges, 
and skirmishes. On that eventful day I was in com- 



318 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

mand of a line of skirmishers deployed on one of the 
flanks, in front of some woods, near by. A second 
line was posted about forty rods behind us just inside 
the woods, and we had orders to hold the position at 
all hazards. From mid-day until sunset our boys 
gallantly obeyed the command, firmly maintaining 
their ground against all assaults. 

At one time during this sharp cavalry engagement 
a solid shot came flying down the road just where 
Davies and his staff had halted — their position being 
directly in range of a section of the enemy's artil- 
lery. The concussion of the ball nearly threw the 
general's horse off his feet, but Davies maintained 
an exterior as calm and undisturbed as though can- 
non balls whizzing by were the most natural occur- 
rences of life. 

The fight at James City was the inaugural engage- 
ment, as Bristoe was the closing scene in the retreat 
of Meade and the advance of Lee towards Washing- 
ton. On the morning of the eleventh, the retreat of 
the Army of the Potomac towards the Rappahannock 
was continued, the enemy following in close pursuit 
and keeping up constant skirmishing. At Culpepper 
the corps separated, Gregg taking the road to Sul- 
phur Springs and Buford moving in the direction of 
Stevensburg, while Kilpatrick marched on the main 
thoroughfare, along the railroad. After leaving Cul- 
pepper, Hampton's cavalry made a fierce attack on 
the rear-guard of Kilpatrick, but were repelled by 
our forces without interrupting the order of retreat, 
until opposite the residence of John Miner Botts, 
when a few regiments wheeling about, dashed upon 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 3^9 

the Confederates in a handsome saber-charge, giving 
them an unexpected repulse. Arrived at Brandy 
Station, Kilpatrick found himself environed by combi- 
nations which threatened his destruction, but with 
the genius of a master, he cut the gordian knot ol 
difficulties and increased his already glorious fame by 
the brilliant generalship displayed on this famous 
battle-ground. 

On the evening of the thirteenth while bivouacking 
near Bealeton Station, an ammunition wagon took 
fire and caused a wide-spread alarm within the camp, 
sending its exploding shells and flying shot in every 
direction. Supposing the enemy to be upon us in 
force, every man rushed to his post ready for duty, 
but was relieved to find the supposed attack a false 
alarm. 

During this retreat, Stuart, closely following the 
Union rear, was actively engaged in harrassing our 
troops and committing all the depredations in his 
power. When near Catlett's Station, by a flank 
movement, he inadvertently got ahead of our Second 
Corps under General Warren, and was completely 
hemmed in between the Union troops. 

Long lines of infantry, cavalry, and artillery swept 
by on both sides of him and his only resource was to 
conceal his force in the pine thickets near by and 
await in silence the passage of the Union army. Ac- 
cordingly, under cover of night he entered the thicket 
and orders were issued that " no sound should be ut- 
tered throughout the command." 

The heavy tramp of the Union infantry and the 
rumble of our artillery sounded plainly in the ears of 



320 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

the concealed soldiers. The accidental report of a 
fire-arm would have disclosed their position and in 
view of the overwhelming force of the enemy, noth- 
ing awaited them but destruction or surrender. * * 

* Three scouts were disguised in the Federal uni- 
form and instructed to cross the enemy's line of 
march, report the situation to General Lee, and re- 
quest him to attack the enemy's left flank at the next 
daybreak, when Stuart, breaking cover, would attack 
in the opposite direction and complete the confusion. 
The adventure succeeded. At dawn Rodes opened on 
the enemy as suggested ; and Stuart, hurling the thun- 
ders of his artillery from an opposite direction, in the 
very pitch of the confusion, limbered up his guns and 
dashed with cavalry and artillery through the hostile 
ranks, giving them a complete surprise and inflicting 
upon them a loss of several hundred in killed and 
wounded." 

Early on the morning of the fourteenth, A. P. 
Hill's corps left Warrenton, with orders to strike our 
rear at Bristoe Station where the Second Corps under 
General Warren was encamped behind the railroad 
embankment. 

The enemy advanced to Broad Run Church, on the 
Alexandria Turnpike, and deflecting on the Green- 
wich road, soon after struck our trail just behind the 
Third Corps. Preparations for an attack occupied 
them until about noon, when General Warren's Sec- 
ond Corps, bringing up the Union rear, appeared 
upon the scene. 

Hill then discovered the mistake into which his own 
indiscretion had led him. Sandwitched between the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 32;[ 

retreating Third Corps and the advancing Second, he 
turned upon the force under General Warren, hoping 
to fight his way out of the difficulty and drive back 
our opposing troops. But Warren, though surprised 
to find the enemy in his front, quickly comprehended 
the situation and instantly wheeled his batteries into 
position where they were soon blazing havoc into the 
ranks of the enemy. The telling musketry fire of 
their comrades in arms, was also very effective. The 
fighting was sharp and bloody, and the Confederates 
fell back terribly repulsed, leaving multitudes of their 
dead, wounded, and prisoners in our hands. Six guns 
were captured, five of which, still serviceable, were 
turned against the enemy with great effect. " Our 
loss in killed and wounded was about two hundred, 
including Colonel James E. Mallon, Forty-second New 
York, killed, and General Tile, of Pennsylvania, 
wounded ; that of the enemy was probably four hun- 
dred (besides prisoners), including General Posey 
(mortally), Kirtland, and Cooke, wounded, and Col- 
onels Ruffin, First North Carolina, and Thompson, 
Fifth North Carolina Cavalry, killed." 

The battle of Bristoe was the last and only general 
engagement that grew out of Lee's last advance north- 
ward, and probably decided the issue of the campaign ; 
for the severe check here given to the Confederate 
pursuit, prevented, it may be, a raid into Maryland 
and Pennsylvania. Immediately afterwards, Lee took 
up his retreat, his campaign of manoeuvres having 
ended disastrously to the Confederate cause. His at- 
tempt to flank our army and get between Meade and 
Washington was anticipated, and the recoil in the for- 



322 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

tunes of the South which began at Gettysburg rolled 
steadily on. Bristoe virtually ended the campaign of 
1863, but another battle known sometimes as the 
" Buckland Haces " occurred soon after, which was 
the closing action of the year and which vitally af- 
fected my career as a soldier. The strange vicissi- 
tudes of that day and the dark chapter it opened in 
my life, affecting all my future, are events which will 
be recounted in another chapter. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Kilpatrick's First Defeat. — Stuart Covers the Retreat of Lee. — En 
Route for Warrenton. — Fitzhugh Lee's Attack. — Charge of Stuart's 
Cavalry. — Surrounded on All Sides. — Kilpatrick's Generalship. — 
The Desperate Charge. — Holocaust of Death. — The Author's Cap- 
ture. — In Warrenton Jail. — A Specimen of Southern Chivalry.— 
Kilpatrick's Dinner Interrupted. — Case of the Campaign. 

IN the closing engagement of the campaign of 1863, 
near New Baltimore, General Kilpatrick suffered 
his first defeat. 

Overwhelmed by superior numbers, after a sharp 
struggle he was obliged to retire to Haymarket, leav- 
ing the attacking cavalry of Stuarc in undisputed pos- 
session of the field. 

After the Confederate defeat at Bristoe, where the 
confident advance of Lee's army had been suddenly 
checked and his legions hurled backward in retreat, 
the rear of the retiring army was covered by Stuart's 
cavalry, which fell slowly back towards Warrenton. 
The Union force followed in that direction in pursuit 
and thus gave Lee an opportunity for a flank attack 
at Buckland. On the night of the eighteenth of Oc- 
tober, Kilpatrick's division, consisting of the brigades 
of Custer and Davies, bivouacked near Gainesville, 
posting their pickets along Cedar Run. 



224 BATTLES FOR TIIE UNION. 

We reached Gainesville at about dark, having skir- 
mished all day with the enemy's cavalry, who had 
sharply disputed our advance, from the time we left 
Sudley Church in the morning until we bivouacked 
at nightfall. The firing was kept up until a late hour, 
— the crack of carbines and pistols breaking the still- 
ness of the night air along Warrenton turnpike, and 
lighting the darkness with fitful flashes. During the 
night, our regiment was drawn up in column of squad- 
rons, ready for action at a moment's notice, and we 
were ordered to " Stand to horse." 

A little after dawn the next morning the order to 
advance was given, and breaking camp, we were soon 
en route for Warrenton. Stuart's cavalry, in our im- 
mediate front, retired slowly before us, skirmishing as 
they fell back. . The Harris Light, marching in col- 
umn of platoons, led the van. Just after we had 
passed New Baltimore, on the Warrenton pike, we 
were startled by a sudden thunder of artillery which 
shook the air, and to our dismay we discovered that 
Fitzhugh Lee was making a furious attack on our rear- 
guard at Buckland Mills. A storm of shot and shell 
from the enemy's batteries swept our ranks, and at the 
same instant Stuart, in our front, wheeled about and 
charged the small brigades of Kilpatrick with wild fury. 
The onset was terrible and we were taken completely 
by surprise. Lee and his cavalry had been sent by a 
circuitous route with the design of falling upon our 
rear, and having come upon a small detachment of 
Union infantry at Thoroughfare Gap, he had cut his 
way through their lines and advanced by an unpick- 
eted road upon our troops. Here by a preconcerted 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 325 

movement with Stuart, he begun the attack. Almost 
at the same moment, General Gordon, in command of 
a third division of cavalry, emerged from the woods 
on our left, and made an attack on the Union flank 
with determined fury. A less skillful commander than 
Kilpatrick, would have been overwhelmed by a crisis 
so unlooked-for and portentious. Surrounded on all 
sides by the swarming hordes of the enemy, and as- 
saulted in front, flank and rear, by a force greatly out- 
numbering our own, certain destruction seemed to 
await us. It was a moment in which decisive action 
was imperative to save the command from utter annihi- 
lation. But Kilpatrick, with the genius of a master 
mind, rose to the exigencies of the hour, and led his 
men out of the trap about to spring upon them and 
seal their fate. Though unable to turn defeat into 
victory in the face of such terrible odds, he yet man- 
aged to extricate himself and them from the difficult 
environments of his situation. Quickly his plans were 
formed, and the order " Platoons right about wheel ! ' 
rung down the column. It was followed in an instant 
afterwards by the command, " gallop ! march ! " and 
at the head of his small brigades, he made a desper- 
ate charge upon the cavalry and artillery of Fitzhugh 
Lee, arrayed in line of battle along the banks of Ce- 
dar Run. Our boys obeyed the voice of their chief, 
with unflinching determination, as their desperate on- 
u et proved : but the three hundred slain left on the 
field, showed at what a cost the charge was made. It 
was a bloody alternative, but the command was saved 
and their road to escape made clear. 

When we were in pursuit of the retreating foe, the 
14 



326 BATTLES FOR THE UA'JOiV. 

Harris Light Cavalry, had the advance, but by a sud- 
den evolution of the regiment during the fight, we 
were thrown in the rear and compelled to defend our- 
selves as best we could from an attack on the flank. 
Reaching a slight elevation in the road, we made a 
stand and succeeded in holding the enemy in check 
for some time, by the deadly volleys from our carbines 
and pistols. Stuart, who was commanding the Con- 
federate force in person, ordered an assaidt on our 
position and charged upon us amid wild yells with an 
entire division. A furious hand-to-hand conflict en- 
sued which made the battle field a scene of confusion 
and distress. Numbers, it is said, were drowned in 
Cedar Run while endeavoring to effect their escape. 
At this crisis of affairs, a fatal bullet pierced my horse 
and we fell to the ground, trampled by the charging 
squadrons of the foe. For some time I lay in the 
mud, lost to all consciousness, while the roar of battle 
surged around me unheeded. Meantime, our brave 
troops, overpowered in the unequal contest, were forced 
to fall back, leaving their wounded and dead on the 
field. How long I lay insensible under the feet of 
the trampling horsemen, I do not know, but when I 
awoke to consciousness, I found myself in the hands of 
a Rebel guard who were hastily carrying me from the 
scene of action. Thus began the first chapter in the 
record of my long captivity. On the night of that 
fatal day of October nineteenth, Ave slept in Warren- 
ton Jail and at daybreak the next morning started for 
Culpepper. During our first night's incarceration, 
most of the prisoners were robbed of their clothing 
and valuables by the guard — everything of the slight- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 327 

est value being taken. One of these specimens of 
Southern chivalry preferred the modest request for my 
entire wardrobe. His language was a trifle short of 
classic elegance as he told me to " come out of thatar 

hat and overcoat, and them ar boots too, you d d 

bluejacket ! " 

In looking over my career as a soldier, I can see 
how vitally this day of capture affected my whole after 
life. Like the springs on high mountain ranges where 
a slight change of conformation decides whether their 
clear waters shall flow to the east or the west, so there 
are hours in the history of most men whose events, 
however slight, decide the direction of all their after 
lives. Out of the experience of which this day was 
the opening page, grew my first book, " Beyond the 
Lines," and " Soldiers of the Saddle,"— a record of 
three years of cavalry life in the Union service — fol- 
lowed in natural sequence. 

Just before the cavalry action of New Baltimore 
began, Kilpatrick had stopped at the house of a citi- 
zen near Gainesville to whom he declared that "Stuart 
liad been boasting of driving him from Culpepper, but 
now he was going to drive Stuart," General Kilpat- 
rick, on that day, is described as having been as " fu- 
rious as a wild boar." He was about to sit down to 
a well-cooked dinner when the sound of artillery from 
the direction of Buckland Mills, announced the tumult 
of coming battle. Kilpatrick sprang to his feet, threw 
himself into the saddle and almost immediately was 
galloping away like the wind, to lead his command. 
But the disastrous denouement of the battle dispersed 
his division and sent his men flying for dear life. The 



328 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 



General's race-horse ' Lively,' a thorough-bred mare, 
flew the track on this occasion, and fell into the 
hands of Moseby. 

After the action of New Baltimore, Lee and his 
army resumed their march southward, and General 
Meade commenced a forward movement from the line 
of Cedar Run to the line of the Rappahannock. In 
November, the Army of the Potomac was located 
along the Upper Rappahannock, and the enemy occu- 
pied the south side of the Rapidan. Here both armies 
fortified their respective positions and active opera- 
tions were suspended for the remainder of the year. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

ZF»0:E=t.T IF 1 I S H IE 1=1. . 

Outer Defences of Wilmington. — Blockade-running. — Admiral Por- 
ter's Expedition.— Rough Weather.— The Attack.— The Torpedo 
Vessel. — The First Day's Bombardment. — Reconnoissance. — 
Strength of the Fort.— Return to Hampton Roads.— Renewed 
Preparations. — Attack of the Second Expedition. — Bivouac Fires. — 
Terrible Bombardment. — Desperate Assault of Union Troops. — 
They Effect a Lodgment. — The Attack goes on. — The Last Trenches 
Cleared. — Fort Fisher Ours. — Valor of Colored Troops. — Spoils of 
Victory. 

AT the southernmost extremity of a narrow neck 
of land branching out from the North Carolina 
coast, and separating Cape Fear river from the tu- 
multuous waters of the wide Atlantic, stands Fort 
Fisher, grimly guarding the approach to Wilmington 
twenty miles to the northward, up the river. 

During the year of 1863, Wilmington was the 
great center of blockade-running, and owing to the 
vast difficulties of enforcing the blockade, the port 
had defied all effort to abridge its privileges, and in 
consequence an extensive trade was carried on be- 
tween Wilmington and foreign ports. 

Early in August, 1863, a joint naval and military 
expedition under Admiral Porter was organized with 
the avowed purpose of closing this port by capturing 
its outer defences. The squadron, however, did not 



330 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

start on its hazardous enterprise until December 
twelfth, owing to the difficulties of obtaining a suffi- 
ciently large co-operating land force to insure success. 
Leaving Hampton Roads, where they had remained 
since August, the squadron, numbering seventy-five 
vessels all told, sailed for their destination, having on 
board a land force of six and a half thousand men 
under General Butler. The fleet arrived off Wil- 
mington on December fifteenth, but owing to rough 
weather, the vessels were unable to get into position 
to land the troops or to make an attack until noon of 
the twenty-fourth, when a furious lire was opened 
upon Fort Fisher. The storm of shot dropped at tliG 
rate of thirty per minute and continued until night. 

On the day previous to the attack, a torpedo vessel, 
disguised as a blockade-runner, was towed to a point 
within four hundred yards of Fort Fisher, and two 
hundred yards of the beach, where she was securely 
anchored while preparations were made to blow her 
up. 

She had on board an amount of powder supposed 
to be sufficient to explode the magazine of the fort. 
The enemy were completely deceived as to the char- 
acter of the vessel, believing her to be a blockade- 
runner, and in consequence giving the signals custo- 
mary with that class of craft. The party under Com- 
mander Rhind in charge of the torpedo vessel, set 
her on fire under the cabin and then getting into 
their boats, made good their escape to the Wilder- 
ness, — one of the boats belonging to the fleet. As 
soon as the torpedo party were on board, the Wilder- 
ness put out towards sea, to avoid the explosion. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 33^ 

" At forty-five minutes past one o'clock on the 
morning of the twenty-fourth, the explosion took 
plaee, but the shock was nothing like so severe as 
was expected. It shook the vessel somewhat and 
broke one or two glasses, but nothing more." 

As the morning of the twenty-fourth dawned, the 
fleet got under way and was soon arrayed in battle 
lhie ready to make a grand attack on the almost im- 
pregnable walls of Fort Fisher. 

At half-past eleven o'clock, the ship Ironsides be- 
gun the assault, the rest of the fleet following in suc- 
cession and opening fire as soon as their guns were 
brought within range of the fort. The enemy 
were driven to their casemates by the iron hail, 
and for five long hours the terrible storm continued 
without intermission. But it was without result. The 
transports did not arrive off Wilmington until the 
twenty-fifth, having been delayed on the way by a 
storm which obliged them to put into Beaufort. A 
fresh attack was then ordered, under cover of which 
a force of three thousand men, General Wcitzel com- 
manding, was landed at a point five miles east of the 
fleet. General Weitzel made a reconnoissance and 
reported that an assault at that time would be butch- 
ery. As General Butler was of the same opinion, 
the troops were ordered to re-embark and the trans- 
ports returned to Hampton Roads. General Butler, 
in a letter to Admiral Porter, written on the twenty- 
fifth, says that the strip of land up which the attack- 
ing party would be obliged to pass in order to assault 
the fort, was not wide enough for more than a thous- 
and men in line of battle. Flag Pond Hill Battery 



332 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

and its garrison of sixty-five men and two commis- 
sioned officers were captured, as was also Half Moon 
Battery, including its force of seven officers and two 
hundred and eighteen men of the Third North Carolina 
Junior Reserves. General Butler in the letter men- 
tioned, says : — " General Wcitzel advanced his skir- 
mish line within fifty yards of the fort, while the gar- 
rison was kept in their bomb-proof by the fire of the 
navy, and so closely that three or four men of the 
picket line ventured upon the parapet and through 
the sally-port of the work, capturing a horse which 
they brought off, killing the orderly who was the 
bearer of a dispatch from the chief of artillery of 
General Whiting, to bring a light battery within the 
fort, and also brought away from the parapet the flag 
of the fort. 

" This was done while the shells of the navy were 
falling about the heads of the daring men who entered 
the work, and it was evident as soon as the fire of 
the navy ceased because of the darkness, that the fort 
was fully manned again, and opened with grape and 
canister upon our picket line. 

" Finding that nothing but the operations of a reg- 
ular siege, which did not come within my instructions, 
would reduce the fort, and in view of the threatenins; 
aspect of the weather, wind arising from the south- 
east, rendering it impossible to make further landing 
through the surf, I caused the troops with their pris- 
oners to re-embark, and see nothing further that can 
be done by the land forces." 

Some idea of the strength of the fort may be ob- 
tained from the fact that during one of the most ter- 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 333 

rific bombardments of modern warfare, the fort re- 
mained uninjured. 

A Richmond paper in an issue of the time says : — 
" General Bragg has issued a congratulatory order on 
the defeat of the enemy's grand armada before Wil- 
mington, paying a merited compliment to Generals 
Whiting and Kirkland, Colonel Lamb, and the offi- 
cers and men engaged. The enemy's attack on the 
first day lasted five hours ; on the second day, seven 
hours, — firing altogether over twenty thousand shots 
from fifty kinds of vessels. The Confederates re- 
sponded with six hundred and sixty-two shots on the 
first day and six hundred on the second. Our loss is 
three killed and fifty-five wounded. The ground in 
front and rear of the fort is covered with shells and 
is torn in deep pits. Two guns in the fort burst, two 
were dismounted by ourselves and two by the enemy's 
fire, yet the fort is unhurt." 

But the effort to take Fort Fisher was not allowed 
to remain a failure. The returning troops were 
reenforced at Fortress Monroe, and immediate prepa- 
rations were made for a renewed attack. General 
Terry succeeded General Butler in command of this 
second expedition, which comprised a land force of 
over eight thousand men, including a division of 
colored corps— the Twenty-fifth— and the batteries of 
Lee and Myrick. The troops embarked on board 
government transports and left Fortress Monroe on 
the sixth of January, 1864, to cooperate with Por- 
ter's fleet off Beaufort. Owing to wind and weather, 
the combined movement was delayed and the fleet did 
not reach the Wilmington coast until the thirteenth. 

14* 



334 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

On that day, this formidable armada, arranged in 
five divisions, moved upon the grim and threatening 
works of Fort Fisher. 

At seven and a half o'clock in the morning, a line 
of ironclads, headed by a vessel named the New 
Ironsides, moved up directly in front of Fort Fisher, 
taking a position one thousand yards distant. The 
guns of the fort opened on them as they approached, 
but the iron fleet did not return the enemy's fire until 
an hour afterwards. At nine o'clock the troops were 
landed — some of the men in their eagerness jumping 
into the water, waist deep. A skirmish line was 
immediately pushed out and the entire attacking 
force was ashore by three o'clock in the afternoon, 
at which time they took possession of Half Moon 
Battery. Very soon, the force advanced along the 
beach towards Fort Fisher, pausing at dusk out of 
range of the enemy's guns to wait until they could 
go forward under cover of the darkness. At ten 
o'clock, the bivouac fires of the attacking force shone 
through the darkness, two miles distant from the 
fort, where our troops were encamped, covered by a 
kind of lagoon extending between their right flank 
and the woods beyond. The gunboats of the enemy 
shelled our lines at this point from Cape Fear river. 
During the night of the thirteenth, the fort was 
strengthened and the enemy reenforced. The next 
day our troops constructed a line of breastworks 
between Cape Fear river and the sea, and on the 
fifteenth, at daybreak, the attack commenced. The 
Brooklyn and the eleven-inch gunboats — all of them 
iron clads — opened the bombardment with a terrible 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 335 

fire. Under cover of this cannonading, the division 
of Ames, drawn up to assault the west end of the 
fort, were marched up to within one hundred and 
fifty yards of the point of attack. Abbott's brigade 
occupied the intrenchments facing Wilmington in 
opposition to a force five thousand strong, under 
Hoke, which threatened our troops in that direction. 
" A column of fourteen hundred sailors and marines, 
under Captain Bresse, was detailed from the fleet to 
assault the sea front, which had been so terribly 
demolished by the bombardment that it was thought 
a lodgment might be effected there more easily." 
At ten o'clock a terrific cannonade from the entire 
fleet was opened on the fort, which lasted until three 
o'clock in the afternoon almost without intermission. 
At that time the ships changed the direction of their 
fire from the path of the charging columns to other 
works, and a half hour later a desperate assault was 
made on the sea front. The brave besiegers gained 
the parapet, but were subsequently repulsed and 
driven back in disorder. 

When the column was re-formed it was sent to 
the intrenchments facing Wilmington, and Abbott's 
brigade joined the forces of Ames. This attack, 
though unsuccessful, diverted the enemy's attention 
from the main storming party and aided in the 
results of the day. 

The men of the old Tenth Corps, three or four 
thousand strong, constituted principally the attacking 
party, and at the word of command they gallantly 
charged the enemy's works. A force of twenty-two 
hundred garrisoned the fort. 



336 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Colonel Curtis led our troops in a headlong charge 
and succeeded in effecting a lodgment on the west 
end of the land front. The brigades of Pennypacker 
and Bell immediately followed, and at five o'clock in 
the afternoon, after contesting every inch of ground 
with the most desperate fighting and the severest 
loss, our troops gained possession of about one-half 
of the land front ; after which Abbott came up from 
the defensive line, and the attack went on. At ten 
o'clock the last trenches of the enemy were cleared, 
and Fort Fisher was ours. The fighting lasted six 
and a half hours, and a more splendid record of valor 
or brilliant action than was displayed in this assault 
can rarely be found. Curtis was severely wounded 
while leading his men in the attack, Bell received a 
mortal hurt, fighting at the head of his troops, and 
Pennypacker was dangerously injured. At midnight 
the fort was surrendered without condition into our 
hands — the force inside numbering about eighteen 
hundred, under command of General Whitney and 
Colonel Lamb. These Confederate officers were both 
wounded. The chain ol earthworks surrounding 
Fort Fisher and all their contents fell into our hands. 
Seventy-two guns, including an Armstrong, the camp 
and garrison equipage, and sixteen days' rations, 
were of the spoil. Besides the loss of the garrison, 
of whom four hundred were killed and wounded, the 
enemy also suffered the loss of Cape Fear river and 
its facilities for blockade running. " On our side, 
not a ship nor a transport was lost, and but little 
damage was done to the fleet." Nine hundred in 
killed and wounded of the land force, and two 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 337 

hundred on the fleet, comprised our loss in the 
engagement of men and officers. By some misman- 
agement, the magazine of the fort exploded, killing 
three hundred of the garrison. 

The capture of Fort Fisher was a splendid achieve- 
ment, and its importance as a strategic point of 
operations could hardly be over-estimated. During a 
period of nearly two years, the trade carried on from 
Wilmington with foreign ports, despite the block- 
ade, amounted in the aggregate to sixty-six millions 
of dollars, — an item which contributed largely to 
the resources of the Confederates. In the desperate 
assault which, after long continued lighting, con- 
quered the works of Fort Fisher, the colored troops 
distinguished themselves by their unflinching bravery. 

Thus, another stronghold of Rebellion tottered to 
its fall, and the port of Wilmington was once more 
in possession of the Federal Government. 






CHAPTER XXXVI. 

OIjUSTBB. 

Expedition to Florida. — Sailing of the Fleet. — John Hay. — Lincoln's 
Letter. — Objects of the Expedition. — The Camp at Jacksonville. — 
Seymonr's Sudden Move. — Attempt to Checkmate the Enemy at 
Olustec. — Hemmed in by Swamps. — The Fatal Surprise. — Over- 
whelmed by Superior Numbers. — Decimated Ranks. — The Battle 
Lost. — Seymour's Bravery. — Patten Anderson. — Who was to blame ? 

TOWARDS the latter part of the year 1863, an expe- 
dition to the coast of Florida was determined upon 
by the Federal Government, for which purpose a portion 
of Gilmore's fleet in Charleston Harbor was assigned, 
and in January, 1864, the flotilla was under way. 
Twenty steamers and eight schooners, having on board 
a force of six thousand men under the immediate com- 
mand of General Truman Seymour, sailed from Hil- 
ton head for Jacksonville, on the St. John's river. 

President Lincoln, having good reason to suppose 
that Florida was ready to return to her allegiance to 
the Federal Government, sent his private secretary 
John Hay, commissioned as Major, with the expedi- 
tion, bearing despatches to Gilmore with instructions 
to inaugurate measures looking towards a speedy res- 
toration of Florida to the Union. In his letter, he 
said that " understanding that certain persons were 
endeavoring to construct a legal government in Florida 
and that Gilmore might possibly be there in person, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. §39 

he had dispatched Mr. Hay, one of his private secre- 
taries, to aid in the proposed construction. " It is 
desirable," he said, "for all to co-operate ; but if ir- 
reconcilable differences of opinion shall arise, you arc 
master. I wish the thing done in the most speedy 
way possible, so that when done it will be within the 
range of the late proclamation on the subject. The 
detail labor will of course have to be done by others, 
but I shall be greatly obliged if you will give it such 
general supervision as you can find consistent with 
your more strictly military duties." The other 
avowed objects of the expedition were to procure an 
outlet for cotton, lumber, timber, &c, second, to cut 
off the enemy's sources of commissary supplies, <fcc, and 
third, to obtain recruits for colored regiments. 

The troops embarked on February sixth, and on the 
seventh reached Jacksonville, where they went into 
camp. 

It was designed to make Jacksonville a base of sup- 
plies from whence to advance into the interior. Ac- 
cordingly, on the night of the eighth, the Union cav- 
alry under Colonel Guy V. Henry, pushed forward 
towards Baldwin, reaching that place at daybreak on 
the ninth. During the night they had passed a Con- 
federate camp and captured a battery three miles in 
its rear. 

At Baldwin, one hundred prisoners, eight pieces of 
artillery and other valuable property fell into our hands. 
Gilmore, after going to Baldwin and superintending 
the preliminaries of this movement, returned to Jack- 
sonville and Hilton Head, leaving Seymour in charge 
of the expedition. Meantime, Colonel Henry pushed 



340 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

on to Sanderson, a point forty miles distant, seizing 
and destroying considerable property at that place. 
Near Lake City the enemy was discovered to be in too 
great force to hazard an attack by the command of 
Colonel Henry, and consequently our cavalry " fell 
back five miles, bivouacked in a drenching rain-storm 
and telegraphed to Seymour for orders and food." A 
report that the enemy, under General Finnegan, had 
fallen back from Lake City that night, probably induced 
Seymour to make the sudden move which resulted so 
disastrously to our arms at Olustce. On the fifteenth, 
Gilmore was startled on receiving a letter from Sey- 
mour saying that he proposed to make an advance to 
theSuwanee river — Lake City being the objective point. 
Gilmore at once dispatched General Turner to Jack- 
sonville with orders countermanding this mad attempt : 
but when Turner reached his destination, the Olustee 
blunder was already being enacted. Seymour had 
marched his force of five thousand men out of Jack- 
sonville on the eighteenth, and the next day he reached 
Barber's Station, on the Florida Central Railroad, 
about thirty miles from his point of starting. Receiv- 
ing information at this place which led him to believe 
that he would be able to defeat the enemy's plans and 
that great strategic advantages could be secured by a 
rapid advance to Lake City, he resumed his advance 
on the morning of the twentieth. His troops passed 
through Sanderson without halting and pushed forward 
towards Olustee, nine miles beyond, believing the en- 
emy to be at that station. But upon arriving within 
three miles of Olustee, the head of the Union column 
unexpectedly stumbled into the trap set for them, just 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 341 

as the enemy anticipated. It was two o'clock in the 
afternoon, and our men, after a march of sixteen miles 
over difficult roads, were faint with hunger and fatigue. 
At the point of attack a long cypress swamp confront- 
ed them, through which the railroad passed, " while 
the wagon road, making a square turn to the right 
crossed the railroad in order to avoid and flank the 
swamp." The troops of the enemy, commanded by 
General Finnigan, were so disposed under cover of 
this swamp and the neighboring pine forest, that our 
men stumbled into the ambuscade before they were 
aware of its existence. The attack was sudden and 
furious, and our infantry, hastily forming in line of 
battle, returned the enemy's fire at great disadvantage. 
The Seventh Connecticut Infantry under Colonel J. R. 
Hawley, and the Fortieth Massachusetts under Col. 
Henry had the advance and received the first fire of 
the concealed foe. We had sixteen pieces of artillery, 
but its position was in such close proximity to the woods 
within which the Confederates were concealed, that 
their sharpshooters, with unerring aim, made targets 
of our gunners and horses with terrible results. In 
twenty minutes after the action began, Hamilton's 
battery had lost forty out of fifty horses, and forty-five 
out of eighty-two men. The Seventh New Hampshire 
was ordered up in support, but was soon demoralized. 
The Eighth United States colored regiment was then 
advanced, and for an hour and a half they bravely 
held their position, though at a loss of three hundred 
and fifty of its men. At this juncture " Colonel Bar- 
ton led his brigade consisting of the Forty-eighth, 
Forty-ninth, and One-hundred-and^fifteenth New York 



342 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

into the hottest front of the battle. Colonel Sam- 
mons of the One-hundred-and-fifteenth, was among 
the first of his regiment disabled ; seven of its cap- 
tains or lieutenants were killed or wounded ; one of 
its companies lost thirty-two out of fifty-nine men. 
Six captains or lieutenants of the Forty-seventh were 
killed or disabled and its colonel was also wounded." 
The column on our left, headed by the Fifty-fourth 
Massachusetts and First North Carolina, both colored, 
entered the arena of conflict " just in time to stop a 
Rebel charge." They were overpowered by the greatly 
superior numbers of the foe, but " it was admitted that 
these two regiments saved our little army from being 
" routed." Their charge enabled Seymour to re-form 
his batteries farther to the rear, and a retreat was or- 
dered, which was covered by the Seventh Connecticut 
and executed in good order. The enemy did not effec' 
tivcly pursue us. One thousand of our wounded were 
brought off the field, but a large number were unavoid, 
ably left to the consideration of the enemy. The loss 
on the Confederate side was stated at eighty killed and 
six hundred and fifty wounded. Seymour went back 
to Jacksonville the next morning and thus the death 
blow to the restoration of Florida was given, for that 
time at least. During the battle, Seymour, who was 
everywhere present, was described as being recklessly 
brave, dashing into the thickest of the fight and doing 
what he could, after the ambuscade had been brought 
on, to avert its disastrous consequences. But bravery 
alone was impotent against such fearful odds and 
disadvantages of position. 

Too late the affair at Olusteo was discovered to be 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 343 

a mistake. The country was greatly excited over it, 
and Gilniore, Seymour, John Hay, and the President 
were alternately blamed for the needless slaughter. 
The Seventh New Hampshire and a colored regiment 
were also accused of being responsible for the loss of 
the battle. 

An act which reflects credit on the Confederate 
General Patten Anderson, in connection with Olustee, 
should not go unnoticed. Soon after the engagement 
he sent in a complete list of our prisoners and wounded, 
in his hands, with a description of the nature of the 
wounds received, of both black and white. 

After the dark chapters of Fort Wagner and Fort 
Pillow, it is pleasant to chronicle an incident like this. 

Olustee was the central and only action of import- 
ance which occurred in Florida during the year 1864, 
or from thenceforward until the close of the war of 
Rebellion. 

I enjoyed a personal acquaintance with General 
Seymour, and do not agree with those who believe that 
he was incapable of directing the movements of an 
independent force. All concede to him a bravery 
verging on rashness, but I am unable to see that the 
surprise at Olustee proves him devoid of generalship. 
How far he may have been to blame in taking upon 
himself the responsibility of an advance, I do not 
know, as some writers claim that the presence of 
John Hay may have had something to do with the 
movement and with running counter to Gilmore's 
orders. But I am unwilling to play the part of de- 
tractor to a noble officer who fearlessly faced death 
for country's sake, inciting his men to brave endeavor, 



344 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

and displaying every quality which could win the ad- 
miration of a soldier. 

Let the laurel wreath of glory which the heart ever 
accords to valor and patriotism, rest undisturbed upon 
the name of one whose daring, at least, remains un- 
assailed. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

IF 1 O n. T PILLOW. 

One of the Outgrowths of Slavery. — The Negro Soldiery. — Con- 
federate Law. — The Black Flag. — Location of Fort Pillow. — ■ 
Forrest Before the Defences. — Severe Fighting. — No Surren- 
der. — Flags of Truce. — Treachery. — Surprise of the Fort. — • 
Overwhelmed by the Enemy. — The Butchery Commenced. — 
Horrible Scenes. — The Inhumanity of Man. — Influence of 
Slavery. 

THE massacre of Fort Pillow was one of the legiti- 
mate outgrowths of the institution of negro slave- 
ry, and the savage butcheries there perpetrated under 
the folds of the " black flag," disgrace the records of 
human civilization and stain the page of history. 
The soldiers who fought in defence of liberty at Fort 
Pillow were black soldiers, and that was their offence. 
The Confederacy, with strange inconsistency, while 
employing slaves for its own belligerent purposes, 
passed a law that if they were so employed by Union 
officers, no quarter might be expected, and that noth- 
ing less than extermination would be the fate meted 
out to them. The law referred to, found a place on 
their statute books in the early part of the year 1863, 
and contained the following clause : — " Every white 
person, being a commissioned officer, or acting as such, 
who, during the present war, shall command negroes 
or mulattoes in arms against the Confederate States, 



346 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

shall, if captured, be put to death, or otherwise pun- 
ished, at the discretion of the court." But there was 
not found in the Confederacy an officer of any note, 
with qualities sufficiently fiendish to permit the " black 
flag" dispensation to be carried into effect, until For- 
rest appeared before Fort Pillow, and there, by his 
cold-blooded atrocities, covered his name with eternal 
infamy. Overlooking the surrounding country from 
a high and nearly inaccessible bluff on the Mississippi 
river, at a distance of about forty miles above Mem- 
phis, in Tennessee, stood the historic fort, — a work of 
moderate size, and mounting only six guns. In the 
early part of the last year of the war, the place was 
garrisoned by a force under Major L. F. Booth, num- 
bering five hundred and fifty-seven men, two hundred 
and sixty-two of whom were colored troops belonging 
to the Sixth United States Heavy Artillery. The 
other battalion under Major Bradford, of the Thir- 
teenth Tennessee Cavalry, was white. 

On April twelfth, 1864, this fortress was wrested 
from the United States forces there garrisoned, by an 
act of treachery, under the leadership of Forrest, un- 
paralleled during all the four years of fighting to which 
the Rebellion gave birth. The battle commenced at 
daybreak, when a furious assault on our troops was 
made by the enemy. 

The Union forces fought at first in the outer de- 
fences, and for hours the contest raged with sharp 
severity. At nine o'clock in the morning, in the 
thickest of the fight, Major Booth was killed, after 
which Major Bradford withdrew his men to the inner 
fort, where from that time until three o'clock in the 



BATTLES FOR THE CXI OX 347 

afternoon they bravely defied every attempt of the 
enemy to dislodge them. Their gallant defence was 
aided by the gunboat New Era, which sent a vigorous 
storm of shells into the ranks of the enemy. 

At about mid-afternoon, under a flag of truce, For- 
rest sent a demand for the unconditional surrender of 
the fort, to which Bradford replied, asking one hour's 
time to consider the proposal. Very soon, Forrest, 
under a second flag of truce, sent the message that if 
the Union troops were not moved from the fort in 
twenty minutes, he would order an assault. Major 
Bradford replied that he would not surrender. "While 
\ the flag of truce was flying, the Confederates, with 
unworthy treachery, gradually crept up to a position 
under the fort, from which they could overwhelm the 
garrison by a sudden attack. 

Captain Marshall of the gun-boat, refrained from 
firing in order not to give an excuse for subsequent 
atrocities in case the fort should be captured by the 
enemy. Immediately after the second flag of truce 
retired, the rebels made a rush from the positions 
they had so treacherously gained, and obtained pos- 
session of the fort, raising the cry of " no quarter." 
But little opportunity was allowed for resistance. 
Our troops, black and white, threw down their arms 
and sought to escape by running down the steep bluff 
near the fort, and secreting themselves behind trees 
and logs in the bushes and under the brush ; some 
even jumping into the river and leaving only their 
heads above the water as they crouched down under 
the bank. Then followed a scene of cruelty and mur- 
der without parallel in civilized warfare, which needed 



848 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

but the tomahawk and scalping-knife to exceed the 
worst atrocities ever committed by savages. 

The Rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter, 
sparing neither age nor sex, white nor black, soldier 
nor civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie 
with each other in the devilish work. Men, women, 
and children wherever found, were deliberately shot 
down, beaten, and hacked with sabers. Some of the 
children, not more than ten years old, were forced to 
stand up and face their murderers while being shot. 
The sick and wounded were butchered without mercy, 
the rebels even entering the hospital buildings and 
dragging them out to be shot, or killing them as they 
lay there unable to offer the least resistance. All over 
the hillside the work of murder was going on. Num- 
bers of our men were collected together in lines or 
groups and deliberately shot. Some were shot while 
in the river, while others on the bank were shot and 
their bodies kicked into the water ; many of them still 
living, but unable to make exertions to save them- 
selves from drowning. * * * * All around were 
heard the cries of " No quarter ! No quarter !" " Kill 
the damned niggers!" "Shoot them down!" All 
who asked for mercy were answered by the most cruel 
taunts and sneers. Some were spared for a time only 
to be murdered under circumstances of greater cruelty. 
No cruelty which the most fiendish malignity could 
devise, was omitted by these murderers. One white 
soldier who was wounded in the leg so as to be unable 
to walk, was made to stand up while his tormentors 
shot him. One negro, who had been ordered by a 
Rebel officer to hold his horse, was killed by him when 



BATTLES FOJt THE UNION. 349 

he remonstrated. Another, a mere child, whom an 
officer had taken up behind him on his horse, was seen 
by Chalmers, who at once ordered him to put the 
child down and shoot him, which was done. The 
huts and tents in which many of the wounded had 
sought shelter, were set on fire, both that night and 
the next morning while the wounded were still in 
them, those only escaping who were able to get them- 
selves out, or who could prevail on others less injured 
to help them out, and even some of these thus seeking 
to escape the flames, were met by these ruffians, and 
shot down, or had their brains beaten out. One man 
was deliberately fastened down to the floor of a tent, 
face upward, by means of nails driven through his 
clothing and into the boards under him, so that he 
could not possibly escape, and then the tent was set 
on fire. Another was nailed to the side of a building 
outside of the fort and then the building was set on 
fire and burned. * * * * These deeds of mur- 
der and cruelty closed when night came on, only to 
be renewed the next morning, when the demons care- 
fully sought among the dead lying about in all direc- 
tions, for any other wounded yet alive, and those they 
found were deliberately shot. * * * The Rebels 
had made a pretence of burying a great number of 
their victims, but they had merely thrown them, with- 
out the least regard to care or decency, into the 
trenches and ditches about the fort, or the little hol- 
lows and ravines on the hillside, covering them but 
partially with earth. Portions of heads and faces, 
hands and feet were found protruding through the 
earth in every direction." And so the sickening re- 



15 



350 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

cital goes on. A committee of investigation who vis- 
ited the spot two weeks afterwards, reported that the 
ground at the foot of the bluff where most of the mur- 
ders had been committed, was still stained with the 
blood of the slaughtered soldiers, although heavy rains 
had fallen in the meantime. Major Bradford, in com- 
mand of the fort, who up to the moment of capture, 
was uninjured, was brutally murdered the day after 
he was taken prisoner. Only eternity will reveal how 
many of our troops there engaged, fell victims to the 
fiendish inhumanity of Forrest, in like manner. " The 
motive for the murder of Major Bradford seems to 
have been the simple fact that, although a native of 
the South, he remained loyal to his Government." 

Both Forrest and his superior, Licutcnant-Gencral 
S. D. Lee, attempted palliation and even denial of the 
dark deeds of this day ; but they were too well au- 
thenticated by scores of unimpeached witnesses, some 
of whom were shot and left for dead long after the 
fighting had ceased, and who testified to the cold- 
blooded murders committed. The murderers declared 
that they shot the colored troops because they were 
" niggers," and the whites because they were " fight- 
ing with the niggers." 

Forrest, giving his loss at twenty killed and sixty 
wounded, and stating that he buried two hundred and 
twenty-eight of our men on the night of the battle, not 
reckoning numbers that were buried next day, yet had 
the assurance to claim that this number was killed in 
fair fight. 

Lee, in writing a defence of the case, asserts, in the 
face of all contradictory evidence, that their officers 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. ^l 

" endeavored to prevent the effusion of blood." Only 
three weeks before this, Forrest had summoned Pa- 
ducah in unmistakable terms, closing with these 
words,-" If you surrender, you shall be treated as 
prisoners of war; but if I have to storm your works 
you may expect no quarter. 

After the capture of Fort Pillow, Forrest made a 
rapid retreat into Mississippi unmolested,— the Union 
cavalry force at hand not being sufficiently strong to 
make an effective pursuit. 

The news of the butchery of Fort Pillow sent a 
thrill of horror through the loyal North, and the out- 
raged sense of the people, finding vent in bitter de- 
nunciation, produced a reactionary effect on the South 
It was not exactly pleasant for a section which 
boasted so much chivalry and refinement, to be cata- 
logued with barbarians or held up to the view of the 
civilized world witli the knife in one hand and the black 
flag in the other. It perhaps augured a returning 
sense of justice that even an attempt at palliation for 
the wholesale crime should be made, and it was well 
lor the reputation of our country that this terrible 
precedent found no subsequent parallel in the history 
•of our civil war. 

Little by little the gigantic crime of American 
slavery to whose brutalizing influence the dark deeds 
of *ort Pillow may be traced, was undermined until 
at last its doom was sealed and our country was able 
to make her claims of freedom consistent with her 
acts. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

GOLD H^- n.IB O 1^. 

Cold Harbor Tavern. — The Historic Cross Roads. — Grant's Design of 
Forcing the Chickahominy. — Disposition of Troops. — Preliminary 
Fighting. — The Battle Inaugurated by a Thunder Storm. — The 
Grand Attack. — Gallant Dash of the Second Corps. — The Posi- 
tion Gained and Lost. — Vantage-ground of the Enemy. — Failure of 
Grant's coup-de-main. — The Heroic Brigade of Colonel McKean. — 
The New Thermopylse. — The Enemy's Last Attack. — The Curtain 
Falls on Cold Harbor. 

THE neighborhood of the Chickahominy river, first 
made historic by McClellan in 1862, was again 
baptized with the blood of contending armies two 
years later, when Grant fought the battle of Cold 
Harbor at such fearful cost of life. 

An old inn, known as Cold Harbor, standing at a 
junction of cross roads leading out of Richmond, gave 
its name to the contest here waged. From this point 
the traveler may go to Dispatch Station and Bottom 
Bridge on the south, White House on the east, Han- 
overtown and Newcastle on the north, and Richmond, 
via Gaines' Mills on the west. At this point in the 
first days of June, 1864, Grant determined to force 
the Chickahominy, which constituted the outer line 
of defence for Richmond. It was nearly the same 
spot which McClellan had occupied two years before, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 353 

when the renowned swamps south of the river were 
traversed by his army. 

The right of the enemy's line covered the Chick a- 
hominy river and his left stretched along the Virginia 
Central Railroad, holding also the Cold Harbor road 
from Atlee's Station on the Fredericksburg Eailroad 
to Gaines' Mill. 

The cavalry of the enemy extended to Hanover on 
the left and Bottom Bridge on the south. This was 
the disposition of troops on Tuesday, May thirty- 
first, three days previous to the battle. Skirmishing 
between the two armies was kept up from the begin- 
ning of the week until Friday when the engagement 
became general. 

On Tuesday, Lee, suspecting Grant's intention of 
concentrating his troops on the left, instituted a series 
•of manoeuvers for position which brought on some 
lively skirmishing. 

Torbcrt's cavalry was sent to the right, to Cold 
Harbor, to take possession of the eminences in that 
direction, and succeeded in holding the ground after 
a sharp fight. 

On Tuesday night the Sixth Corps marched to Cold 
Harbor where the Eighteenth Corps, after losing its 
way, joined it at three o'clock in the afternoon of 
June first, taking position on the right of the Sixth 
in four lines. A field of ploughed land fronted the 
two corps, beyond which, the enemy were intrenched, 
covered by a pine forest. The two center divisions of 
our line charged across the ploughed land at the 
double-quick, cheering as they went. A murderous 
fire met them as they advanced, but undeterred they 



354 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

pushed forward and gallantly carried the first Confed- 
erate line, taking six hundred prisoners. But the 
captured line was in a position where it could be en- 
filaded by the enemy's fire, and being also commanded 
by a redoubt the position was relinquished. 

During the night the enemy endeavored in vain to 
regain their lost line. This day's action cost us two 
thousand men, but Cold Harbor remained in our pos- 
session. The left extremity of the Union line was lo- 
cated at this point while the right was at Bethesda 
Church, eight miles distant on the Hanovertown road. 
Late in the afternoon there was an attack along the 
whole line, but it was without noticeable results on 
either side. By Thursday noon, June second, a new 
disposition of troops for the attack had been com- 
pleted, the Second Corps was shifted to the Union 
left and the advance was ordered. But just before 
the appointed hour, a heavy thunder storm obscured 
the heavens, and the battle of the elements inaugur- 
ated the contest below. The play of lightning was 
incessant, the rain fell in torrents and the waters of 
the Chickahominy foamed turbulently with the sud- 
den flood. The attack which was to have been made 
at five o'clock that afternoon was postponed until four 
and a half o'clock the next morning, Friday, June 
third. Burnside held the extreme right, next to him 
came Warren, next Warren was the Eighteenth Corps 
under Smith, Wright's Corps came next and Hancock 
held the extreme left. 

The two armies confronted each other from oppo- 
site sides of a low, swampy piece of ground which was 
destined to go down to history as the battle-field of 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 355 

Cold Harbor. Behind the enemy's lines, which were 
drawn up for battle two deep, the turbulent Chicka- 
hominy raged, before them lay the swamp drenched 
with water from the rain of the previous night, and 
beyond that gleamed the bayonets of the Union 
front, ready for action. In the gloom of the early 
morning the skirmish lines of the two armies ad- 
vanced, and soon irregular volleys of musketry an- 
nounced their encounter. 

The artillery then opened, and down the battle lines 
which stretched along the Chickahominy, the thun- 
der of the guns resounded, scarcely less terrible than 
the thunder of the heavens on the preceding night. 

Hancock, on the left, first came up to the Confeder- 
ate works, and his extreme left under Barlow, fol- 
lowed by the division of Gibbon, dashed forward in 
the face of a galling fire straight up to the guns of 
the enemy. Then with a rush they scaled the para- 
pets of the Rebel fortifications, capturing their guns 
and colors at that point, besides several hundred pris- 
oners. 

This position had been the key point of the battle 
of Gaines' Mills two years before and commanded the 
whole field from the bald top of a ridge named Watt's 
Hill. 

It also covered the angle of the Dispatch road, and 
had the brilliant charge which captured this position 
received proper support, the battle of Cold Harbor 
would have had a different sequel. Lee, doubtless, 
would have been forced to retreat across the Chicka- 
hominy, and thus one of the gates to Richmond would 
have been seized. But Lee, in guarding against the 



356 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

possible catastrophes of battle, had not overlooked 
this one, and a heavy force under Hill was quickly 
dispatched to regain the lost eminence. Our brave 
boys under Barlow had rushed onward so far in ad- 
vance that the enemy's artillery raked their ranks 
with a terrible enfilading fire, while Hill fell upon 
them with overwhelming numbers. It was impossi- 
ble to withstand an onset with such fearful odds, and 
the shattered ranks were compelled to fall back, 
though still keeping in charge part of their prisoners. 
The desperate efforts of the Second Corps to carry 
the Confederate works were without success. The 
Sixth Corps carried the first line of rifle pits in its 
front, gaining a point within two hundred and fifty 
yards of the enemy, but all the fury of its five batter- 
ies did not noticeably damage their main works. 

The action of the right of our line under Warren 
and Burnside was confined principally to heavy ar- 
tillery firing. 

The Second corps bore the brunt of the battle, and 
the advantage which their valor gained was only 
temporary. Again and again did Grant, massing a 
heavy force, hurl it against a single point of the 
enemy's line : but the position lost and gained by 
the Confederates during the first ten minutes of 
fighting secured such strength of vantage ground 
that all our efforts to dislodge them were rendered 
of no avail. Although the battle lasted for five 
long hours, this first ten minutes decided its issue. 
Seven times did the valiant Sixth corps sweep down 
upon the right-center of the enemy, and as many 
times did the enemy defy its assaults. 



BATTLES FOR TILE UNION. 357 

Our entire line was drawn up in close proximity 
to the Confederate position, and at one point on the 
extreme left the contending forces were reported to 
be only fifteen yards distant ! During a lull in the 
fury of conflict, the two central figures in the Union 
army, Grant and Meade, were seen on an eminence 
in anxious consultation, and the question, " Will 
the assault be renewed ?" was asked along the lines. 
A writer for the New York Times speaks as follows 
concerning the relative positions of the fighting 
hosts : 

" One portion of our line retained all day a posi- 
tion within fifteen yards of the Rebel works. This 
heroic band was the brigade of Colonel McKean, a 
brigade of Gibbon's division of Hancock's corps, and 
numbering about eight hundred men. The conduct 
■of these eight hundred is as splendid a stroke of 
heroism as ever lit up the story of the ' glory we call 
Greece, and the grandeur we call Rome.' Through 
the livelong day, these men held their line, within 
fifteen yards of the enemy, and all his forces could 
not dislodge them. Repeatedly during the day the 
Rebels formed double columns of attack to come 
over the work and assail them, and the officers could 
be heard encouraging their troops, saying to them, 
' There are only four or five hundred of them — 
come on ! ' But the moment the Rebels showed them- 
selves above their parapet, a line of fire flashed out 
from behind the earthen mound, where those eight 
hundred heroes stood in a new Thermopylae, and 
many a Rebel threw up his arms and fell prone under 
their swift avenging bullets. ' 



358 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

" The sequel of this bit of history is as curious 
as the deed itself — for while the Rebels dared not 
venture out to assail McKean's men, neither could 
he nor his command recede from the perilous posi- 
tion. He could not get back to us — we could not 
go forward to him. In this dilemma, the ingenious 
device was hit upon of running a ' sap,' or zigzag 
trench, up from our line to his. In this way a 
working party were able to dig up to where they lay, 
begrimed with powder and worn down with fatigue, 
and a few hours ago they were brought safely away, 
— ' all that was left of them, left of six hundred ! ' 
But McKean, their gallant leader, he came not away 
alive. Since eleven in the morning, he had lain 
behind the bulwark his valor defended, a corpse, 
While preparing to resist a Rebel assault, he fell, 
pierced by the bullet of a sharpshooter, and after 
living for an hour or two in an agonizing death-in-life, 
begging his staff officers to put an end to his misery, 
his heroic soul forsook the turmoil of this weary, 
warring world." 

All day this position was retained, neither army 
making any decided demonstrations of attack. Just 
after dark, however, a fierce charge was made by the 
enemy on Hancock's Corps ; but the brave boys of 
the Second dealt them such deadly volleys from mus- 
ketry and artillery that the charge, though desperate, 
resulted only in terrible loss of life. The enemy 
evinced a bravery in this charge which could not fail 
to call forth the admiration of those who witnessed it. 
Their ranks, torn open at every discharge from our 
guns, closed steadily up and pressed forward to our 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 359 

very breastworks, some even scaling the parapets, 
though only to fall dead in the act. But their most 
desperate efforts to carry the intrenchments were in 
vain, and their broken ranks fell back through the 
gloom of the night to their old position. 

Thus the curtain fell on the last act in the battle 
of Cold Harbor — a fight neither lost nor won: for 
Cold Harbor remained ours in defiance of every 
endeavor of the enemy to take it; but the Chicka- 
hominy, at that point, remained their's, defying in 
turn all our valor and skill. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

FORT -WAGNER. 

Site of the Fort.— First Assault.— Bombardment from the Fleet. — 
Heaven's Artillery. — The Advance at Night. — The Colored Regi- 
ment. — Furious Assault and Terrible Slaughter. — Bravery of Col- 
ored Troops. — Death of Colonel Shaw. — Waiting under a Hail- 
storm of Death. — The Possession of an Hour. — Repulse and Losses. 
— Wagner Impervious to Assault. — Progress of the Siege. — The 
" Swamp Angel." — Fort Sumter in Ruins. — Calcium Lights. — The 
Enemy Driven to the Wall. — Wagner Evacuated. — Spoils of Vic- 
tory. 

THE story of Fort Wagner possesses for me a peculiar 
and personal interest, on account of having first lis- 
tened to its recital in detail from the lips of one of the 
colored participants, while I was held a prisoner in 
Charleston jail yard. Sergeant Johnson was a full- 
blooded and intelligent negro, and gave me an inter- 
esting history of the captivity of himself and com- 
rades after the final bloody assault of the eighteenth. 
They were free negroes living in the state of Massa- 
chusetts, but were tried on a charge of leaving their 
masters and joining the Union army. Happily, the 
abolition of slavery renders such mockeries in the 
name of justice no longer possible, and gradually the 
long-suffering and down-trodden race is being placed on 
the merit of character instead of color. 

On the south side of the entrance to Charleston 
Harbor lies Morris Island — a sand formation washed 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. QQ1 

up by long accumulations of debris swept outward 
from the beach, and inward from the wide ocean. 
Cumming's Point is at the northern extremity of this 
island, and southward, down the beach, on a narrow 
peninsula of sand, Fort Wagner faces the sea. Early 
in July, 1863, a combined military and naval expedi- 
tion was organized by the Federal Government for the 
purpose of taking possession of Morris Island, and 
reducing Fort Wagner. 

On July tenth, a lodgment on Morris Island was 
effected, and the infantry of the attacking force was 
pushed forward to within six hundred yards of Fort 
"Wagner. In a dispatch to General Halleck, from 
Morris Island, dated July twelfth, General Gilmore 
says : — " We now hold all the Island except about one 
mile on the north end, which includes Fort Wagner, 
and a battery on Cumming's Point. * * * * 
On the morning of the eleventh instant, at daybreak, 
an effort was made to carry Fort Wagner by assault. 
The parapet was gained, but the supports recoiled un- 
der the fire to which they were exposed, and could not 
be got up. Our loss in both actions will not vary 
much from one hundred and fifty in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners." 

But the effort to reduce Fort Wagner by assault was 
not thus easily relinquished, and another attack was 
determined upon, which took place on the eighteenth 
of July. A bombardment from the fleet was to have 
opened at dawn on that day, but a terrible storm 
which burst over land and sea, dampened our powder 
and caused a delay of six hours. At half past twelve 
o'clock the attack began, and a rain of fire fell upon 



362 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

Fort Wagner from six iron-clad gunboats, stationed 
at short range from Morris Island, and also from a 
semi-circular line of batteries ranged across the island 
a mile distant, to the southward. Several wooden gun- 
boats farther away, also sent their shells into the ram- 
parts of the fort. The bombardment, though raging 
severely, from noon until nightfall, was without appar- 
ent effect. As the sun went down, the boom of can- 
non died away over the bay, and from the depths of a 
black thunder cloud which now unrolled itself over the 
sky, the jagged lightnings leaped in angry flashes. The 
roar of the artillery of the sky, mingling with the fierce 
tempest which now broke over Charleston Harbor, suc- 
ceeded the thunder of the fleet. In the midst of the 
storm, arrangements were perfected to carry the fort 
by assault — an impression having been received that 
the works were evacuated. Our iron-clads, with the 
exception of the Montauk, returned to their anchorage. 
General Strong, Colonel Putnam, and General Steven- 
son, led three brigades respectively in this perilous 
undertaking, the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (colored) 
having the advance. The troops, forming in line, 
moved forward over the hard beach, from which the 
tide had retired, towards the fort. The hour of low 
tide had been chosen on account of the narrowness of 
the strip of land along which the attacking force were 
obliged to pass in order to reach the fort. The Fifty- 
fourth Massachusetts regiment was commanded by 
Colonel Robert G. Shaw, and was the first colored 
force organized in a free State. Anxious to prove 
their bravery, the regiment, in order to be on the bat- 
tle-ground in season, marched for two days " through 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 353 

heavy sands, working its way across creeks and inlets, 
unsheltered through the pelting rains of the interven- 
ing nights; only reaching at six in the afternoon 
General Strong's headquarters, about midway of the 
island, where it was halted five minutes : but there 
was now no time for rest and food, and it went for- 
ward hungry and weary to take its place in the front 
line of the assaulting columns. * * * Advanc- 
ing a few hundred yards under a random fire from 
two or three great guns, halted half an hour during 
which the Fifty-fourth was addressed by General Strong 
and by its colonel : and then, as the dusk was deep- 
ening rapidly into darkness, the order to advance was 
given, and under a storm of shot and shell from Wag- 
ner, Sumter, and Cumming's Point, our soldiers moved 
swiftly on." Silently they advanced until when 
within two hundred yards of the fort the silence was 
broken by a great shout and with a wild rush the troops 
swept forward up the glacis, the other regiments fol- 
lowing closely. The furious storm of grape and can- 
ister which greeted then from the fort, decimated their 
ranks with terrible havoc; but the colored troops 
plunged boldly on, numbers of them crossing the ditch, 
though the water in it was four feet deep, and gaining 
the parapet. But they were driven back by hand gre- 
nades, though not until half their number were left 
dead on the field. Their brave young colonel was 
among the number whose lives paid the forfeit of this 
terrible charge. " The Sixth Connecticut Regiment, 
under Lieutenant Colonel Rodman, was next in sup- 
port of the Fifty-fourth and they also suffered terribly, 
being compelled to retire after a stubborn contest. 



364 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

The Ninth Maine, which was next in line, was broken 
up by the passage of the remnant of the repulsed col- 
ored regiment through its lines, and retired in confu- 
sion, excepting three companies, which stood their 
ground." The Third New Hampshire now rushed into 
the contest and three companies waded the water of 
the ditch and found shelter under the embankment. 

The Second Brigade being unaccountably delayed 
in coming up, General Strong ordered the men to fall 
back and lie down on the glacis. Here, while wait- 
ing for their supports and while exposed to a galling 
fire, General Strong was wounded. The Second Brig- 
ade not yet arriving, the order to retire was given 
and the men left the field in perfect order. The other 
regiments soon afterwards coming up, rushed with 
impetuous valor up the glacis, undeterred by the 
steady fire of the enemy, and climbing over the para- 
pet descended into the fort, where a desperate hand- 
to-hand encounter took place. For over an hour our 
gallant troops held possession of the fort, obliging the 
garrison to seek the shelter of the traverses at one 
side of the works. But re-enforcements arriving for 
them, our gallant boys were at last driven from the 
fort, overpowered by superior numbers. 

The Forty-eighth New York regiment under Colonel 
Barton, having been among the first to reach the fort, 
was fired upon by mistake, by a regiment that gained 
the parapet a few moments later, supposing it to be- 
long to the Confederate garrison. 

The brave Forty-eighth came out of the fight with 
decimated ranks. 

At midnight the order to retire was given and the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 365 

troops fell back to the rifle pits outside their own 
"works. 

As the Union force retired, a "Rebel yell of triumph 
from Wagner rose above the thunder of their guns 
from Sumter and Cumming's Point." The Union 
loss in this desperate assault was fifteen hundred, 
while the Rebel loss in killed and wounded was not 
much over one hundred. Only the severely wounded 
on our side, were taken prisoners, but six hundred 
Union dead, according to Confederate authority, were 
buried on this woeful battle-field. 

" Among these was Colonel Shaw — a hereditary 
Abolitionist — on whom they vainly thought to heap 
indignity by ' burying him in the same pit with his 
niggers.' His relatives and friends gratefully accepted 
the fitting tribute." General Strong received a mor- 
tal wound near the spot where the young Colonel met 
his death, and the lives of many other brave officers 
were here laid down, a noble sacrifice for the cause 
they loved. 

Fort Wagner having thus been proven impregna- 
ble to assault, General Gilmore began the reduction 
of the place by regular siege. The cross fires from 
Fort Sumter, Battery Gregg and several other batter- 
ies on James Island, rendered this work one of diffi- 
culty, and the narrow land approach to the fort, com- 
plicated it still further. 

But steadily, night after night, under cover of the 
darkness, and in the face of all obstacles, the be- 
seigers worked on. 

Trenches were dug, batteries erected and mortars 
and siege guns plaoed in position to do their deadly 



366 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

work. Row after row of inclined palisading was 
pushed forward towards the doomed fort, until there 
was no longer room to advance parallels, on account 
of the proximity of fort and beach. But the ap- 
proach was now continued by zig-zag trenches at acute 
angles with each other. Torpedo mines also filled 
the ground from this point forward. Meantime, while 
the work of the seige went on, the guns of our fleet 
continued to belch their thunders over the bay, bom- 
barding the defences of the harbor, with little inter- 
mission. 

In the soft, black mud westward of Morris Island, on 
a platform of logs supported by piles driven down to 
the hard sand-bed below, the ' Marsh Battery ' was 
erected, mounting a single eight-inch rifled .Parrott, 
protected by a sand-bag parapet. This was the cele> 
brated " Swamp Angel" of soldier nomenclature, 
and its design was to shell Charleston unless Morris 
Island surrendered. It carried a projectile of one 
hundred and fifty pounds weight, but at its thirty-sixth 
discharge it burst, and its work was thus brought sud- 
denly to an end. 

The steady storm of shot and shell which was contin- 
uously poured upon Fort Sumter from our batteries and 
iron-clads, began to take effect, dismounting its guns, 
and crumbling its walls, until at length, it was reduced 
to a mass of shapeless ruins, and on the twenty-third 
of the month, General Gilmore ceased firing in that 
direction, and reported to Halleck that " Fort Sumter 
as an offensive work was now practically demolished." 

And thus the siege went on, from the time of the 
final assault on the eighteenth of July, through all the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 357 

month of August and the opening days of autumn. 
Towards the last of the siege, all our light mortars 
had been brought to the front and placed in battery, 
and powerful calcium lights were used by night to 
blind the enemy and " assist the operations of our can- 
noneers and sharpshooters." 

On September fifth, at daybreak, our batteries, after 
a temporary check, re-opened on the enemy's works, 
aided by the " New Ironsides," which dropped its ex- 
ploding shells into the fort, from a broadside of eight 
guns. The calcium lights " turned night into day, 
blinding the garrison, and rendering visible to the be- 
siegers everything connected with the fort." Under 
this terrible attack, the enemy were compelled to 
remain under the shelter of their bomb-proofs, thus 
leaving our sappers free to push forward their work 
under the very wall of the fort. On the evening of 
September sixth, everything was ready for another 
grand assault, and General Terry was ordered to lead 
the attack in three columns, at nine o'clock on the 
morning of the seventh. But at midnight on the sixth 
the garrison were discovered to be escaping, and so 
quickly did they move, that only seventy-five prisoners 
were captured. Eighteen guns were left in Fort Wag- 
ner and seven in Battery Gregg. The bomb-proof 
shelter of Fort Wagner was found to be not seriously 
injured, thus proving that sand — of which it was con- 
structed — is possessed of far greater power of resist- 
ance than stone or brick. 

In a dispatch from Gilmore to Halleck, dated Sep- 
tember seventh, he says : — " About ten o'clock last 
night the enemy commenced evacuating the island and 



368 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

all but seventy-five of them made their escape from 
Cumming's Point, in small boats. 

" Captured dispatches show that Fort Wagner was 
commanded by Colonel Keitt of South Carolina, and 
garrisoned by one thousand four hundred effective 
men, and Battery Gregg by between one hundred and 
two hundred men. 

"Fort Wagner is a work of the most formidable 
kind. Its bomb-proof shelter, capable of containing 
one thousand eight hundred men, remains intact af- 
ter the most terrific bombardment to which any work 
was ever subjected. 

" We have captured nineteen pieces of artillery, 
and a large supply of excellent ammunition." 

New batteries were erected upon Morris Island after 
its capture, with the design of commanding Fort Sum- 
ter and aiding any naval attack which might storm 
Charleston. The city which recklessly, and without 
counting the cost, had sown the seeds of disunion, was 
yet doomed to reap the fruits thereof in war's merci- 
less desolation. Her ocean defences were now forced 
and the guns of Liberty thundered at her gates. 
Soon, the shriek of exploding shells resounded through 
her streets and her people abandoned their dwellings, 
seeking places of safety. The " cradle of secession " 
was violently rocked, and the progeny which, fathered 
by injustice, had been nursed therein, was soon to 
struggle in death's fatal throes. 



CHAPTER XL. 

CEDAR CREEK. 

Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. — Pursuit of Early. — Cedar Creek 
Encampment. — The Enemy Re-enforced. — The Determined Attack. 
— The Silent March. — The Slumbering Army Surprised. — The Wild 
Yell through the Fog. — The Union Army a Mass of Fugitives. — The 
Nineteenth Corps Forced Back by the Wave of Retreat.— Efforts of 
the Brave Sixth. — The Fight Near Middletown. — Sheridan at Win- 
chester. — His Wild Ride. — The Stream of Fugitives Arrested. The 
Union Battle-line Re-formed. — Our Victorious Charge. — The Ene- 
my Routed in Confusion. — Honor to Sheridan. 

THE renown with which the battle of Cedar Creek 
covered the name of Sheridan, will live while his- 
tory is written or has power to survive the wreck of 
time. No more eloquent theme could be furnished the 
pen of the historian or the inspiration of the poet 
than the battle of Cedar Creek, with Sheridan's ride 
from Winchester and its glorious sequel. No single 
event of the late war presents stronger claims for our 
hero-worship than this. None more clearly evidences 
the wonderful power of a magnetic will force, to con- 
trol circumstances and subdue even the reverses of 
battle. 

After the complete surprise that Early had given 
our army at Cedar Creek, and its consequent terrible 
rout and defeat, it seems little less than a miracle 
that the presence of one man should stem the retreat, 



370 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

turn the tide of battle, and lead a shattered army 
back to conquest and glory. 

When Sheridan had returned from his pursuit of 
Early up the Shenandoah Valley in the autumn of 
1864, he retired to the north bank of Cedar Creek, 
near Strasburg. Supposing the enemy too severely 
crippled by defeat and by the wholesale destruction of 
property in the valley, to attempt an attack at that 
time, Sheridan left his army and went up to Washing- 
ton for a little visit. 

General Early, having been re-enforced by twelve 
thousand men, and hearing that Sheridan had gone to 
Washington, determined to attack the Army of the 
Shenandoah, before its general could have a chance 
to return. 

His own army was short of supplies, and the rich 
spoils which he knew were in possession of the Union 
troops was too tempting a prize to be lightly passed 
by. " Our force at this time, was posted on three 
moderate hills extending for three miles across the 
country, each one a little back of the other." 

The Army of West Virginia, under Crook, held 
the first hill; the second was occupied by the Nine- 
teenth Corps under Emory, and the Sixth Corps, with 
Torbet's cavalry covering its right flank, held the 
third eminence. Early crossed the mountains between 
the two forks of the Shenandoah River on the night of 
October eighteenth, 1864, and forded the north branch, 
— marching in five columns. His design was to sur- 
prise the Union camp, and that the march might be 
noiseless, he ordered the canteens of the soldiers to be 
left behind, to prevent any alarm from being given to 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 37} 

the Union pickets, by their clanking against the bay- 
onets. His march was towards our left, and notwith- 
standing the fact that at about two o'clock in the morn- 
ing, the heavy muffled tramp of Early's army of be- 
tween twenty and thirty thousand was heard by some 
of our pickets, few precautions were taken and no re- 
connoisance was sent out. Not dreaming of the con- 
templated attack, on the eve of a great surprise, our 
army, unconscious of its danger, slumbered peacefully 
on. Meantime, the enemy pushing on through the 
gray gloom of the early morning and marching on the 
borders of our position for miles, halted at last when 
they were within six hundred yards of our camps. 

A reconnoitering force from Crook's army was just 
preparing to go out, when suddenly a wild yell burst 
through the fog which hid from their view the Confed- 
erate army, which was quickly followed by a withering 
musketry fire and the clash of arms. Before our sur- 
prised and panic-stricken troops could be formed in 
battle array, the enemy were upon them, and after a 
•short and sharp encounter, the Army of Western Vir- 
ginia was thrown in utter rout — a mass of fugitives 
flying before the pursuing foe back towards the second 
hill where the Nineteenth Corps was encamped. 

The few regiments of Crook's force which endeav- 
ored to make a stand, were swept back before the swell- 
ing tide of fugitives in full and disordered retreat. 

The Nineteenth Corps attempted to arrest the Con- 
federate advance, but the enemy getting in our rear 
and enfilading us with our captured batteries, the troops 
broke rank and fell back in confusion towards the 
encampment of the Sixth Corps on the third hill in 
the rear. 



372 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

A new line of battle was formed by Wright, who was 
making desperate attempts to stay the onward tide of 
fugitives which steadily poured to the rear. Early's 
hungry troops now began to leave their ranks in large 
numbers to plunder the two deserted camps of their 
rich booty. Had Wright been aware of this fact, per- 
haps he could have successfully resisted the Confeder- 
ate advance. As it was, after having hurled back a 
fierce onset of the enemy and covered the retreat of 
the disordered crowd in his rear, he began to fear that 
his communications might be endangered and there- 
fore fell back towards Middletown. Wright had thus 
heroically interposed himself and his command be- 
tween our army and its threatened destruction. 

Merritt and Custer with two divisions of cavalry 
were ordered to our left to check the murderous fire 
assailing it, and a severe fight ensued in the fields 
near Middletown. The enemy endeavored to gain 
possession of the turnpike, in order to seize our trains 
and get between our forces and Winchester. A con- 
centrated fire from Middletown Heights where Early 
had planted his batteries, was poured upon the left, 
and unable to withstand its force, they were compelled 
to retreat in the direction of Newtown, five miles dis- 
tant. As they slowly retired, their ranks were exposed 
to the cannonade of the enemy from the heights. 

While the brave Sixth Corps was firmly covering the 
retreat of the routed army, General Rickets com- 
manding received a severe wound in the breast. 

But while his army was struggling for four anxious 
hours on the brink of destruction, wherfc in the mean- 
time, was Sheridan ? He had arrived at Winchester, 



BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 373 

twenty miles from his camp, on the night of the 
eighteenth, intending to go on to Cedar Creek the 
next morning. He sipped his coffee leisurely at Win- 
chester on the morning of the nineteenth, never dream- 
ing of the maelstrom of rout into which his army 
had been thrown, and with which they were at that 
moment contending. It was about eight o'clock, when 
with his escort, he rode out of Winchester towards 
camp. As he went onward, the vibrations of the 
ground, trembling under the heavy discharges of ar- 
tillery in the unseen distance, gave him his first inti- 
mation of the battle that raged in his front. Nothing 
alarmed, however, he proceeded on his way though at 
a quickened pace, thinking that if Early had dared 
to attack our strong position at Cedar Creek, he could 
not fail to meet with terrible punishment for his 
temerity. But as the thunder of the cannon grew 
louder until at last it deepened into one continuous 
roar, the terrible conviction was forced upon him that 
his army was retreating northward. 

Startled from his composure as the truth flashed 
over him, he dashed the spurs into his horse and was 
soon far ahead of his escort, tearing madly along the 
road. 

"And there through the flush of the morning light 
A steed as black as the steeds of night 
Was seen to pass on with eagle flight ; 
As if he knew the terrible need 
He stretched away with his utmost speed. 
Hills rose and fell ; but his heart was gay 
With Sheridan fifteen miles away." 

Wildly, with distended nostrils and fiery eye-balls 
16 



3^4 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

and foam-flecked sides, the black horse of Sheridan gal- 
loped onward like the wind, yet all too slow for the 
anxious heart of the leader, impatient to be on the 
battle-field. 

" Under his spurning feet, the road 
Like an arrowy Alpine river flowed, 
And the landscape sped away behind, 
Like an ocean flying before the wind ; 
And the steed like a bark fed with furnace ire, 
Swept on with his wild eye full of fire. 
But lo ! he is nearing his heart's desire, 
He is snuffing the smoke of the roaring fray 
With Sheridan only five miles away." 

Soon he encountered the stream of fugitives surg- 
ing northward, but they paused and turned about as 
they saw their brave leader flying towards the front, 
and even the wounded men lying by the roadside 
cheered him. Swinging his cap above his head, he 
shouted as he dashed onward, " Face the other way 
boys, face the other way ; we are going back to 
our camps ; we are going to lick them out of their 
boots !" 

It was about ten o'clock when he galloped up to the 
front, with his horse covered with foam, and by his 
voice and magnetic presence, stopped the retreat and 
infused new life and energy into the panic-stricken 
army. 

Every effort was now directed to re-forming his 
men, which a pause in the pursuit favored — the army 
taking a position out of range of the enemy's fire. 
A new line of battle was arranged with the Sixth 
Corps in the center, Crook's command on the left, and 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 377 

the Nineteenth on the right, with Custer's cavalry on 
the extreme right, and Merritt's cavalry on the ex- 
treme left. 

While the line was forming, Sheridan seemed to be 
everywhere at once, attending to the work of re-organ- 
ization, dashing up and down the front and imbuing 
the men with his own wonderful enthusiasm and 
courage. 

" Boys," said he, " If I had been here this never 
should have happened. I tell you it never should 
have happened. And now we are going back to our 
camps. We are going to get a twist on them. We 
are going to lick them out of their boots." 

Shouts and cheers followed him, and though they 
had eaten nothing since the night before, and had been 
fighting for five hours, the excited soldiers felt a new 
strength given them by the confidant bearing and lan- 
guage of their heroic commander. 

The Confederates, meantime, had placed their ar- 
tillery in range of our new position and then a grand 
charge was made across the fields, directly on the 
Nineteenth Corps. 

Emory had orders to stop the enemy's advance at 
all hazards, and the terrible repulse which hurled 
back Early's men showed how well the order was 
obeyed. 

When the news of the repulse was despatched to 
Sheridan, " Thank God for that," said he, " Now then 
tell General Emory if they attack him again, to go 
after them and follow them up, and to sock it into them, 
and to give them the devil !" And with almost every 
word, bringing his right hand down into the palm of 



378 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

his left, with a sharp blow, he added, " We'll get the 
tightest twist on them yet, you ever saw, — we'll have 
all those camps and cannon back again." 

And Sheridan kept his word. 

Early, compelled to relinquish the offensive, retired 
a short distance and began throwing up breast-works. 
Their wagon-trains were brought across Cedar Run, 
with the evident intention of retaining their position 
during the night. But Sheridan did not propose to 
stop short of putting the enemy to rout and regaining 
the lost camps on Cedar Creek. At half-past three 
o'clock, therefore, the re-organized troops dashed for- 
ward in a bold charge, Getty's Second Division having 
the advance. 

A murderous fire from artillery and musketry 
greeted them as they rushed towards the foe, and 
under its withering blaze the lines broke and fell back. 

" The sight roused Sheridan almost to frenzy, and 
galloping amid the broken ranks, he, by his thrilling 
appeals and almost superhuman efforts, restored order, 
and although his few remaining cannon could make 
but a feeble response to the overwhelming batteries of 
the enemy, he ordered the advance to be resumed. 

" The next moment came a prolonged roar of mus- 
ketry, mingled with the long-drawn yell of our charge 
— then the artillery ceased — the musketry died into 
spattering bursts, and over all the yell triumphant. 

" Everything on the first line, the stone walls, the 
advanced crest, the tangled wood, and the half-finished 
breast-works had been carried." 

Where shot and shell crashed thickest, there rode 
Sheridan, heedless of the storm, dashing along the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 379 

front and giving his orders in person to the various 
division and corps commanders. It was a fearful 
crisis, but Sheridan, with the grandeur of a hero, rose 
master of the situation, and as our brave boys re- 
sponded to his appeals, they swept everything before 
them with resistless valor and sent the panic-stricken 
enemy flying in utter confusion and rout. 

On through Middletown and beyond it, the pursu- 
ing army of the Shenandoah chased the flying foe. 
The squadrons of Custer and Merritt charged the 
flanks of the enemy right and left, " taking prisoners, 
slashing, killing, driving as they went." 

The road was strewn with knapsacks, muskets, 
clothing, and everything that could retard the flight 
of the panic-stricken foe, the guns they had captured 
from us and their own artillery falling into our hands. 

The pursuit did not cease until the Confederates 
had been driven through Strasburg to Fisher's Hill 
and beyond to Woodstock, sixteen miles distant. 

The victorious army that night bivouacked in their 
old camps along Cedar Creek, and though they had 
not yet tasted food and though the dead and wounded 
lay all around them, nothing could repress their en- 
thusiasm over the great victory ; as the news of the 
capture of prisoners and guns from the pursuing cav- 
alry in the advance, came to them, the air was rent 
with their cheers. 

Thus ends the record of one of the most wonderful 
contests of the war, of which Sheridan was pre-eminent- 
ly the savior. It is a battle scene which stands out like 
a picture on the page of history, and over the central 
figure of Sheridan and his black charger, there hovers 



380 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

a cloud of glory whose light outlines the splendid 
spectacle of the hero on his " eagle flight" and before 
which all hearts yield willing homage. 

" Hurrah ! hurrah for Sheridan ! 
Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man ! 
And when their statues are placed on high, 
Under the dome of the Union sky, 
The American soldier's Temple of Fame, 
There, with the glorious General's name, 
Be it said in letters both bold and bright ; 
'Here is the steed that saved the day 
By carrying Sheridan into the fight 
From Winchester — twenty miles away. ' n 






CHAPTER XLI. 

V^ATNESBORO. 

Personal Experiences.— Concealed in a Cypress Swamp.— The Union 
Guns.— Wheeler at Waynesboro.— The Enemy's Attack on Atkins. 
Repulse.— Kilpatrick Charges the Barricades, Everything Swept 
bciore Them.— Valor of Union Soldiers.— Wheeler in Disordered 
Flight.— Union Pursuit.— Kilpatrick's Report.— Sherman's Com- 
plimentary Letter. — Incidents in the Author's Escape. 

THE name of Waynesboro summons back to remem- 
brance, with all the vivid power attributed to 
Aladdin's wonderful lamp, the perilous days of my 
escape from southern prisons. 

Skirting the Savannah River, within hearing of the 
railroad trains which rolled heavily by with their loads 
of yelling Confederate soldiers, we heard, with a thrill 
of joy, the heavy boom of cannon which told us our 
friends were near. 

No voice of welcome, greeting the return of the 
wanderer from foreign lands, ever sounded sweeter to 
home-sick hearts than did the roar of Union guns to 
my companion and myself on that December day. 
But the Savannah River flowed between us and liberty, 
and had we ventured from our place of concealment 
in the daytime, certain capture would have awaited 
us. 

We did not then know that Sherman was making 
his grand march to the sea, and that our own Kilpat- 



332 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

rick was contributing his brilliant generalship to the 
movement. 

The enemy had been steadily driven before our ad- 
vancing army, and on the second of December, 1864, 
the Union cavalry, in order to cover the movements 
of the infantry, advanced on the Waynesboro Road. 
Waynesboro is a station about thirty miles south of 
Augusta, Georgia, on the railway connecting that 
place with Millen, where a junction is made with the 
Macon and Savannah line. 

On the evening of the second, Wheeler moved to- 
wards Waynesboro, making a furious attack on Colo- 
nel Atkins' regiment, three miles south of the station. 
The attack was bravely repulsed, and Kilpatrick re- 
ceiving orders to make a reconnoisance in force towards 
Waynesboro, and to fight Wheeler's cavalry wherever 
found, began the advance the next morning. Colonel 
Atkins, Second Brigade, led the column, and Whee- 
ler's skirmishers were soon encountered and driven 
in. Our boys then advanced to take a long line of 
barricades, behind which the dismounted cavalry of 
the enemy were posted. But the attack, though bold 
and brave, failed of success, owing to a greater num- 
ber being massed behind the defence than was at first 
supposed. 

The second attack was made with the Tenth Ohio 
and Ninth Michigan Cavalry in column of fours on 
the right, and the Ninth Ohio on the left. The Ninety- 
second Illinois Mounted Infantry went into the fight 
dismounted. Captain Beebe's Battery, Tenth Wiscon- 
sin, opened fire on the barricades at a distance of six 
hundred yards and compelled the enemy's artillery to 






BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 333 

withdraw. At this opportune moment, the order to 
charge was given, and in splendid battle array the line 
moved forward upon the enemy's works. The contest 
was short and sharp, but the Union arms were vic- 
torious and the enemy fled from their defences. 

The Confederates fell back for a hundred yards or 
so and endeavored to check our progress by counter 
charges. At one time during the fight there seemed 
to be a prospect of their success, but Colonel Heath 
with the Fifth Ohio Cavalry made a spirited attack on 
the Confederate flank which forced them to give away. 
They then fell back to "Waynesboro and intrenched 
themselves in a new and strong position behind double 
lines of barricades. 

General Kilpatrick then determined to break the 
Confederate center, and ordered Colonel Murray, com- 
manding the advance, to " make his disposition of 
troops accordingly, which was immediately done. The 
Eighth Indiana Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Jones, 
was at once dismounted and sent forward as skirmish- 
ers ; the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanded by 
Colonel Jordan, held the left in columns of four by 
battalion ; the Third Kentucky Cavalry, commanded 
by Lieutenant-Colonel King, had the center, while 
Colonel Baldwin, with the Fifth Kentucky Cavalry, 
and Captain Foreman with the Second Kentucky Cav- 
alry held the right. " The notes of the bugle pealed 
forth the well-known charge, and Kilpatrick's trusty 
squadrons dashed forward with resistless valor, driving 
the Confederates from their position and taking posses- 
sion of the town. Through Waynesboro and beyond it 

to Brier Creek, eight miles away, the panic-stricken foe 

16* 



384 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

fled, and the hot pursuit was kept up. The railroad 
bridge was burned and the track destroyed, after which 
the Union forces moved to Alexander, where they 
bivouacked for the night. The enemy was completely 
routed, and Wheeler, never afterwards able to rally 
his demoralized troops, no longer molested our Cavalry, 
which continued its glorious march to the sea. In his 
official report of this action, Kilpatrick says : 

" The men of my command fought most bravely 
throughout this day, and it is impossible to single out 
from among the officers, individual cases of gallantry 
where all did so well. * * * Judging from 
the enemy's killed and wounded, left on the field, his 
loss must have been severe, as upwards of two hund- 
red, left in our hands, were wounded by the sabre 
alone." 

In a letter from General Sherman which Kilpatrick 
received on New Year's Day, 1865, the following com- 
plimentary allusions occur : 

" But the fact that to you, in a great measure, we 
owe the march of four strong infantry columns, with 
heavy trains and wagons, over three hundred miles, 
through an enemy's country, without the loss of a 
single wagon, and without the annoyance of cavalry 
dashes on our flanks, is honor enough for any cavalry 
commander." 

Had my comrade and myself been on the other side 
of the Savannah River at that time, we should have 
made our way to the Union lines and thenceforward 
shared the fortunes and glory of Kilpatrick's com- 
mand, in its march to the sea. But instead of fight- 
ing for country, we were doomed to days of frightful 






BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 3g5 

silence in Cypress swamps, and to nights of weary 
travel, with bruised and bleeding feet, guided only by 
the stars above and urged on by the very desperation 
of hope, despite the dangers confronting us at almost 
every step. 

When on the fourth night after the battle of Waynes- 
boro, we succeeded in crossing the Savannah, and 
landed on the Georgia shore, our conquering armies 
had swept onward towards the coast, beyond the hope 
of our joining them. But we soon struck the Union 
trail and followed it until at last we reached our lines 
at Savannah. Not unfrequently, we breakfasted or 
dined on the remains of rations thrown aside in their 
vacated camps, and the country was full of evidences 
that Sherman's army had passed that way. 

The battle of Waynesboro baptized with new light 
the silver star of Kilpatrick, blazing always " in the 
front of war," and the soldiers of his command must 
ever feel a just pride in the glory accorded to their 
beloved commander. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

BENTONVILLE. 

The Hostile Country of the Carolinas. — Sherman's Five Hundred Mile 
March. — The Country Desolated. — A Carnival of fire. — Arrival at 
Bentonville. — Johnston Encountered. — Battle of Bentonville. — The 
Enemy Repulsed. — Bravery of Slocum's Men. — Sherman's Army 
Intrenched. — Entrance into Goldsboro. — The Goal Won. — Glorious 
Success. — Congratulatory Order of General Sherman. 

WHEN Sherman made his famous march through 
the hostile Carolinas, the most important battle 
of the campaign was fought near Bentonville. 

Sherman's army, numbering about sixty-five thou- 
sand men, was divided into four corps with a wagon 
train of forty-five hundred vehicles, all told. 

This immense train, if placed in a single line, 
would have been forty-five miles long. 

After resting and recuperating at Savannah from 
the fatigue of the march through Georgia, Sherman 
began the vast enterprise of moving his army through 
the heart of two hostile states — Goldsboro, on the 
Neuse river, in North Carolina, being the objective 
point of the contemplated campaign. Goldsboro was 
five hundred miles to the northward from Savannah, 
but in order to take possession of it and its two rail- 
roads leading to Wilmington and Beaufort, a march 
unprecedented in military history was undertaken by the 
intrepid General who had just accomplished a journey 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 337 

of scarcely less magnitude across the state of Georgia. 
" One Rebel army lay at Charleston on his right, 
another at Augusta, on his left — North Carolina 
swarmed with troops, while every step he advanced 
took him nearer to Lee's gathered forces at Richmond. 
Large rivers were to be crossed, swamps traversed and 
battles fought, before he could reach the goal of his 
wishes." A tract of country forty miles wide and 
reaching from the sea-board at Savannah, to the cen- 
ter of North Carolina, was swept by the desolating 
tread of armies, harboring a special bitterness for the 
state where Rebellion was cradled and nursed. " In 
Georgia, few houses were burned ; here, few escaped ; 
the country was converted into one vast bonfire. The 
pine forests were fired, the resin factories were fired, 
the public buildings and private dwellings were fired. 
The middle of the finest day looked black and gloomy, 
for a dense smoke arose on all sides, clouding the very 
heavens. At night, the tall pine trees seemed so many 
huge pillars of fire. The flames hissed and screeched 
as they fed on the fat resin and dry branches, imparting 
to the forests a most fearful appearance." 

Let it be said to the credit of our generals that this 
kind of work was not encouraged by them. 

On the eighteenth of March, 1865, the two wings of 
Sherman's army under Howard and Slocum, had ar- 
rived within a short distance of Goldsboro where their 
long march was to end. Sherman supposing that after 
the repulse of the enemy near Ayresboro, a few days 
previous, no further opposition would be encountered, 
struck across the country from Slocum's command, to 
visit the other wing of his army, ten miles distant, 



388 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

under Howard, who was marching towards Goldsboro 
by way of Bentonville. Not many miles had been trav- 
ersed, however, before he heard the thunder of guns 
behind him, in the direction of Slocum's camp, and 
couriers soon came riding up with the intelligence that 
the Confederate forces under Johnston were in Slocum's 
front near Bentonville. General Sherman immedi- 
ately sent word to Slocum to act on the defensive 
until reinforcements could arrive, and aids were dis- 
patched across the country to Blair and Howard. 
Blair, who was at that time near Olive Station, was 
ordered to come up in the enemy's rear, by way of 
Cox's Bridge on the Neuse, while Howard was directed 
to march on Bentonville, leaving his wagon train be- 
hind him. 

Slocum, nothing alarmed by the sudden appearance 
of the enemy in his front, had his forces well posted, 
his artillery commanding the entire front. A second 
line of battle, established half a mile in advance, by 
the division of Morgan, received the first onset of the 
foe. The Confederate cavalry was first encountered, 
but their infantry and artillery soon blocked the way 
— Johnston having come up from Smithfield in the 
night, with the intention of overwhelming Sherman's 
left wing before the other columns of his army could 
come to its assistance. 

The first dash of the enemy on our advance line^ 
sent it back with the loss of three guns and caissons. 
Two divisions of the Fourteenth Corps were promptly 
deployed, and the same number of divisions of the 
Twentieth Corps were brought up in support on their 
left. A line of barricades was also hastily con- 
structed. 



BATTLES FOR WE UNION. 389 

The thunder of artillery, in the meantime, had 
summoned the dashing squadrons of Kilpatrick to the 
rescue and his troopers were massed on the left. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy in three 
columns, rushed forward on our line in a wild charge. 
But the fire from our artillery and the steady blaze of 
musketry which Sherman's men poured into the 
enemy's ranks sent their first column reeling back. 
Unmindful of the repulse of their comrades, the 
second column of the enemy rushed forward charging 
us with a yell. But the corps of Davis stood like a 
rock in the path of this living wave and sent it dis- 
comfited back. Six times in the space of an hour did 
the gallant left wing withstand the assaults of the foe 
led by Johnston in person. Not an inch of ground 
was yielded. The last charge broke Slocum's line, 
but quickly re-forming, a brilliant counter charge was 
executed, which drove the enemy back. " So close 
and desperate was the combat that many of the Rebel 
dead lay within our lines and even around the head- 
quarters of the Generals." 

Orders were sent Slocum that night to call up the 
two divisions guarding his wagon trains and Hazen's 
Divison of the Fifteenth Corps — these reinforcements 
enabling him to hold his ground, as he thought, in 
spite of the greatly outnumbering force of the Con- 
federates. Dispatches from Schofield and Terry an- 
nounced the former in possession of Kinston and able 
to reach Goldsboro on the twenty-first, the latter being 
near Faison's Depot. 

Schofield was ordered to push for Goldsboro, and 
Terry to lay a pontoon bridge over the Neuse River at 
Cox's Bridge. 



390 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

" At daybreak, on tlie morning of the twentieth, 
Hazen's division of the Fifteenth Corps, Geary's of 
the Twentieth and Baird's of the Fourteenth, reported 
on the field, having marched all night from the new 
Goldsboro road where the trains were moving." 

Howard succeeded in effecting a junction with 
Slocum, on his left, and by four o'clock in the after- 
noon a strong line of battle faced the enemy. John- 
ston, therefore, did not find his coveted opportunity 
of fighting Sherman's army in detail, and his well- 
formed plans were thus rendered abortive. 

On the rainy day of the twenty-first, Schofield 
entered Goldsboro with little opposition, and at the 
same time Terry was effecting a passage of the Neuse, 
ten miles above at Cox's Bridge. Mower's division 
of the Seventeenth Corps, on the extreme right, 
nearly succeeded in cutting off the enemy's only line 
of retreat at Mill Creek. 

At this juncture of affairs, Sherman ordered the 
skirmish line forward in a general attack and the con- 
cluding engagement of the campaign took place. 
Johnston retreated to Smithfield that night and the 
Union army went into camp around Goldsboro— the 
goal of its desires. Here ended the wonderful march 
begun two months before at the southermost limit of 
the Carolinas. The losses of the left wing at Benton- 
ville were one thousand two hundred and forty-seven 
in killed and wounded, one hundred and forty-five of 
this number being killed, exclusive of nine officers 
who met their death on that heroic field. 

The right wing under Howard lost three hundred 
and ninety-nine men, thirty-seven of whom were 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 39^ 

killed. Slocum took three hundred and thirty-eight 
prisoners. Kilpatrick's cavalry, being held in reserve, 
experienced few if any losses. The object of the great 
march having been accomplished, Sherman turned his 
army over to Scljoneld and went to City Point, ready 
for the next move on the chess-board of military ope- 
rations. Before leaving he issued the following con- 
gratulatory order to his army : — 

" Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 
" In the Field, near Bentonville, N. C, 
u March 22, 1865. 
" special field orders — No. 35. 

" The General Commanding announces to the army that yes- 
terday it beat, on its chosen ground, the concentrated armies of 
our enemy, who has fled in disorder, leaving his dead, wounded, 
and prisoners in our hands, and burning his bridges on his 
retreat. 

" On the same day, Major-General Schofield, from Newbern, 
entered and occupied Goldsboro', and Major-General Terry, 
from Wilmington, secured Cox's Bridge crossing, and laid a 
pontoon bridge across Neuse River, so that our campaign has 
resulted in a glorious success. After a march of the most ex- 
traordinary character, nearly five hundred miles, over swamps 
and rivers deemed impassable to others, at the most inclement 
season of the year, and drawing our chief supplies from a poor 
and wasted country, we reach our destination in good health 
and condition. 

" i thank the army, and assure it that our Government and 
people honor them for this new display of the physical and 
moral qualities which reflect honor upon the whole nation. 

" You shall now have rest, and all the supplies that can be 
brought from the rich granaries and store-houses of our mag- 
nificent country, before again embarking on new and untried 
dangers. 

"W. T. Sherman, Major- General Commanding.' 1 '' 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

zf'i^te: if 1 o :e=i :k: s . 

Grant and Sherman in Consultation. — The End Drawing Near. — 
Grand Combination of Movements. — Sheridan En route for Five 
Forks. — Importance of Holding Five Forks. — The March Through 
the Rain. — Engagement on the White Oak Road. — The Union 
Ranks Victorious. — The Sunday Fight. — Grant Takes Advantago 
of His Victory. — Captured Prisoners. — Davis Flying from Rich^ 
mond. — Evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg. — The End Draws 
ing Near. 

WHEN Sherman left Goldsboro for City Point after 
the conquering sweep of his armies through 
the Carolinas, it was on no less a mission than to con- 
sult with Grant concerning the next great move on 
the chess-board of war. 

At City Point the two generals met and held anx- 
ious consultation. President Lincoln was there, also, 
and cordially welcomed the hero of the " Great March." 
On the deliberations of these men hung the fate of 
a nation ; but when their council was ended, the last 
battle of the war had been planned. Every sign in 
the military heavens indicated a speedy termination 
of the war, but a false move at this crisis might 
overthrow the good results already obtained and pro- 
long the contest indefinitely. Well might the great 
Chiefs of the nation be full of anxiety. But though 
the emergency was vast their genius mastered it. 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 393 

While Sherman was destroying railroads and crip- 
pling military resources in South Carolina, General 
Stoneman was doing the same work in the direction 
of Lynchburg, Virginia, and Thomas was marching a 
cavalry force of ten thousand men into the heart of 
Alabama. At the same time, Sheridan, after having 
driven Early out of Waynesboro and making large 
captures of prisoners and munitions of war, was 
sweeping forward toward Richmond, "sending con- 
sternation into the Rebel Capital." Demolished rail- 
roads, broken canal-locks and burned bridges marked 
the path of his army. 

With this grand combination of movements, Grant 
thought that the " Rebellion would have nothing left 
to stand on," but he did not know that the battle he 
was preparing, would end our four years of fighting. 

On March twenty-seventh, 1865, Sheridan joined 
the army of the Potomac and was immediately sent 
around the Confederate left, to take possession of the 
Southside and Danville railroads, thus holding Lee's 
line of retreat in case of the evacuation of Richmond. 
But Grant wished to strike the enemy before he could 
have a chance to retreat. 

Two days before the commencement of Sheridan's 
movement, the enemy made a sudden dash on Fort 
Stedman in front of the Ninth Corps, and carried it 
by assault. It was a bold and unexpected stroke, and 
the enemy seizing our guns, turned them upon us. 

But the Union artillery blazed upon the victors from 
all quarters with such persistent energy, that they 
were obliged to abandon their newly-captured prize. 
In this assault, our loss was nine hundred and nine- 



394 BATTLES FOR TEE UNION. 

teen, and we took nineteen hundred prisoners. The 
other Corps were ordered to advance, which they did, 
capturing the Rebel picket-line in front of the Second 
and Sixth Corps, and taking eight hundred and thirty- 
four prisoners. 

After the consultation between Grant and Sherman, 
it was decided that " Sherman should return to his 
army, and, making a feint as if to move up the Neuse 
to Raleigh, march rapidly north to the line of the 
Roanoke. This would be closing the last door on Lee, 
and Grant knew that the moment Sherman approach- 
ed the river, the former would evacute Richmond." 

It is a matter of wonder that Lee remained so long 
in the Confederate Capital. Perhaps he feared that 
his army might melt away through its large proportion 
of desertions, should he leave his defences at Rich- 
mond. Or perhaps he thought Johnston quite able to 
cope with Sherman and arrest his progress in the north. 
But Grant was full of anxiety lest the enemy should 
slip from his grasp, by effecting a junction with John- 
ston, thus compelling new plans and a new campaign. 

On the morning of March twenty-ninth, Sheridan 
commenced his advance, and reached Dinwiddie Court 
House the same night. Sheridan held our extreme 
left, Parke the Union right, while Wright, Ord, Hum- 
phreys, and Warren occupied the intermediate posi- 
tions. On the thirtieth, Sheridan pushed forward 
towards Five Forks, in a drenching rain which made 
the roads impassible for wagon-trains and artillery. 

Five Forks is a point in the woods where five roads 
meet, three of which lead back to the Southside rail- 
road. The possession of the junction would give our 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 395 

forces a choice of advance, and the point was there- 
fore a strong strategic one. The White Oak road was 
filled with defences, constructed of logs and earth, and 
the approaches to it were blocked by felled trees, be- 
hind which sharpshooters were stationed. 

On the morning of the thirty-first, Sheridan took 
possession of Five Forks, and Warren advanced on 
the enemy's fortifications down the White Oak Road. 
Ay res' division had the advance, and drove the Con- 
federates back upon their main works a mile and a half 
below the White Oak Road. At this point the enemy 
made a grand rally and rushed with such impetuous 
force on the Union advance, that Ayres' division, 
though making stubborn resistance, was compelled to 
give way. The commands of Crawford and Griffin, 
which came next, were also driven back. But now, 
Warren being re-enforced by a division of the Second 
Corps, rallied his broken lines and charging the enemy, 
gained possession of the White Oak Road. At this 
juncture, however, the enemy, advancing in heavy force 
against Sheridan, drove him from his position back to 
Dinwiddie Court-House. 

Here, Sheridan, instead of falling back on the main 
army, " deployed his cavalry on foot, leaving only 
mounted men enough to take charge of the horses. 
This compelled the enemy to deploy over a vast extent 
of woods and broken country, and made his progress 
slow." Sheridan sent word to Grant how affairs stood, 
and the Fifth Corps with General McKenzie's cavalry 
was at once ordered to his aid. The re-enforcements 
reached him at midnight on the thirty-first, and in the 
morning he again marched on Five Forks. After driv- 



396 BATTLES FOM THE UNION. " 

ing the Confederates into their intrenchments, a gen- 
eral attack was ordered. " The Fifth Corps on reach- 
ing the White Oak Road, made a left wheel, and burst 
on the enemy's left flank and rear like a tornado, and 
pushed rapidly on — orders having been given that if 
the enemy was routed, there should be no halt to re- 
form broken lines. As stated before, the firing of the 
Fifth Corps was the signal to General Merritt to as- 
sault, which was promptly responded to, and the works 
of the enemy were soon carried at several points by our 
brave infantrymen. The Confederates were driven from 
their strong line of works and completely routed ; the 
Fifth Corps doubling up their left flank in confusion, 
and the cavalry of General Merritt dashing on to the 
White Oak Road, capturing and turning their artillery 
upon them, and riding into their broken ranks, so 
demoralized them, that they made no serious stand 
after their line was carried, but took to flight in disor- 
der. Between five and six thousand prisoners fell 
into our hands, and the fugitives were driven westward 
and were pursued until long after dark by Merritt's 
and McKenzie's cavalry, for a distance of six miles." 

General Grant received the report of this victorious 
assault just after dark and in order to retain the posi- 
tion, immediately ordered Miles'division of Humphrey's 
Corps to re-enforce Sheridan at Five Forks. A " heavy 
bombardment of the enemy's lines " was ordered to 
be kept up during the night. 

As the first hint of dawn began to streak the sky 
on the next morning, our army swept forward in a gen- 
eral attack, and the battle of the previous day was re- 
newed. Wright carried his whole corps through the 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 397 

enemy's lines in* his front, capturing thousands of 
prisoners and a large number of guns. Pushing for- 
ward, he met the corps of Ord, and making a junction 
with him, hemmed the enemy in Petersburg on that 
side of them, while Humphreys joined Wright on the 
left, and Gibbon's Corps captured the works south of 
Petersburg. 

The battle now raged furiously along the entire line, 
the Confederates fighting with great desperation. But 
at this juncture, Sheridan charged down upon the en- 
emy's flank and rear with such force as to drive them 
from their defences panic-striken. Large numbers of 
prisoners and guns fell into our hands. 

While the battle was raging, President Lincoln and 
the President of the Confederacy were both awaiting 
the result of the contest within a few miles of each 
other. Lincoln was at Grant's headquarters before 
Petersburg, thoughtful and anxious. Davis was attend- 
ing church in Richmond. " In the midst of the ser- 
vices, an orderly splashed with mud strode up the aisle 
and handed him a paper. Glancing at its contents, 
he saw that all was over, and a few hours afterwards, 
he had left behind him his Capital forever, and was 
fleeing towards Danville." That night the Confed- 
erate army withdrew from Richmond and Petersburg 
and commenced the retreat which ended in Lee's sur- 
render. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE SUR.R.BNDER. 

The Last Act in the Drama. — The Historic Farm-House. — Events 
Succeeding the Battle of Five Forks. — Lee's Army Hemmed in. — 
Engagement at Barnesville. — The Enemy Hopelessly Surrounded. — 
Extermination or Surrender. — Triumphant Entrance into Kich- 
mond. — Lincoln's Levee in the Confederate Capital. — The Last 
Act. — Palm Sunday Anniversary. — Universal Rejoicing. 

THE last act in the great drama of the war took 
place without dramatic accessory. There was no 
startling tableau, with the chief actors grouped in 
effective attitudes, surrounded by their attendants. 
No spreading tree lent its romance to the occasion, as 
some artists have fondly supposed. 

A plain farm house between the lines was selected 
by General Lee for the surrender, and the ceremony 
of that act was short and simple. The noble victor 
did not complete the humiliation of the brave van- 
quished by any triumphal display or blare of trumpets. 
In his magnanimity he even omitted the customary 
usage of allowing the victorious troops to pass through 
the enemy's lines and witness their surrender. The 
two great commanders met with courteous salutation. 
General Lee being attended only by one of his aides. 
General Grant sat down at a table in the barely fur- 
nished room and wrote in lead pencil the terms of 
capitulation to which Lee dictated an agreement in 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 399 

writing. His secretary, Colonel Marshall, and Colonel 
Badeau, the secretary of General Grant, made copies 
of the agreement from the same bottle of ink. 

" The exchange of these notes terminated the inter- 
view. It was singularly simple ; utterly bald of all 
rhetorical flourishes and ceremonies; but its very 
simplicity gives it an interest and dignity that the 
most excessive formalities might fail to furnish. * 
* The manners of both commanders 
were easy, self-possessed, those of plain gentlemen in 
ordinary intercourse, and it is remarkable that no two 
men of important station could be found within the 
limits of America who so equally abhored the theatri- 
cal as General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert 
E. Lee." 

The final situation of the Confederate army before 
its surrender, was indeed desperate— its environment 
hopeless. Hemmed in at Appomattox Court House, 
on a strip of land between the Appomattox and James 
Rivers, the Union army nearly surrounded it on all 
sides. Sheridan was in front, Meade in the rear, and 
Ord south of the Court House. Lee had no alterna- 
tive other than the wholesale slaughter of his reduced 
army or its surrender to Federal authority. He wisely 
chose the latter. 

The decisive battle of Five Forks had put his army 
to rout and sent it in rapid retreat towards the junc- 
tion of the Southside and Danville railroads at Burkes- 
ville. The Union troops pressed forward in pursuit, 
and it became a vital question which would reach the 
Junction first. Between Petersburg, their point of 
starting, and their destination at Burkesville the dis- 

17 



40Q BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

tance was fifty-three miles. The roads were bad and 
the troops tired with two days fighting ; but they pushed 
on with determination in this race which was destined 
to decide the fate of two armies. 

On the fourth, Lee was at Amelia Court House, 
while Sheridan, pushing towards the Danville railroad 
struck it at Jettersville on the fifth, whither Meade 
with the Second and Sixth Corps followed him. Two 
divisions of the Ninth Corps, moving on the Cox Road, 
reached Wellesville, twenty-one miles from Burkesvillc, 
on the same day. " On the night of the fifth, the 
army lay in line of battle, stretched across three or 
four miles of country, and facing substantially north- 
ward. Custer's division of cavalry lay on the right 
flank, and McKenzie's on the left. The infantry line 
was formed with the Sixth Corps on the right, the 
Fifth in the center and the Second on the left. On 
the next day the Sixth Corps was transferred from the 
right to the left, and the whole army had, before noon, 
marched about five miles in the direction of Amelia 
Court House." At this point, learning that the enemy 
was moving in the direction of Farmvillc, the course 
of the Second and Fifth Corps was immediately 
changed to a northwesterly direction. At about four 
o'clock in the afternoon of April sixth, the Second 
and Sixth Corps engaged the enemy, putting him to 
rout and capturing many prisoners. Generals Ewcll 
and Custis were among the number. On the seventh, 
the Second Corps encountered Lee at Barnesville six- 
teen miles west of Burkesville, where a sharp contest 
took place and Lee was again forced to retire. He 
retreated in the direction of Lynchburg but Hancock's, 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 401 

column had marched from Winchester on the fourth 
and stood ready to meet the enemy at Lynchburg, 
should occasion require. The remnant of Lee's once 
proud army was now hopelessly environed. In a few 
days it had been reduced from a force of fifty thousand 
to one of twenty, through its large numbers of deser- 
tions and the losses inflicted in battle. It took no 
prophet to foretell now the fate of Lee's army. Every- 
one could see that its doom was sealed. 

Meantime, on the night of that eventful Sunday 
when Davis left his church services to take refuge in 
flight, Petersburg and the boasted Capital of the Con- 
federacy were both evacuated. At daybreak on Mon- 
day morning General Weitzel marched the Army of 
the James into the streets of Richmond, and '" was 
greeted with hearty welcome from the mass of the 
people." The Mayor went out to meet him in order 
to surrender the city, but missed him on the road. 
The city had been fired and the principal part of Main 
street was in ruins. The bridges also were destroyed. 
One thousand prisoners were taken besides five thou- 
sand wounded lying in hospitals. With a kind of 
poetic justice, Libby Prison and Castle Thunder were 
immediately filled with Confederate prisoners of war. 

Two days after Davis fled from Richmond, President 
Lincoln made a triumphal entry into the city and held 
a levee in the Confederate Presidential mansion. 
When Grant had reached Farmville,on the seventh, 
in his pursuit of Lee, he addressed him the following 
note : 



402 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

" April 7. 
" General R. E. Lee, Commanding S. C. A : 

" General : — The result of the last week must convince you 
of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army 
of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and 
regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of 
any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender 
of that portion of the C. S. army known as the Army of North- 
ern Virginia. 

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" U. S. Grant, 
"Lieutenant-General Commanding Armies of the United States." 

Early on the morning of the eighth, before leaving 
Farmville, Grant received the accompanying response 
to which he immediately replied : 

" April 7. 

" General : — I have received your note of this date. Though 
not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of 
further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, 
I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and 
therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms 
you will offer, on condition of its surrender. 

"R. E. Lee, General. 

" To Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, Commanding Armies 
of the United States. " 

" April 8. 
"To General R. E. Lee, Commanding Confederate States Army : 

" General : — Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of 
the same date, asking the conditions on which I will accept the 
surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. 

" In reply, I would say that peace being my first desire, there 
ia but one condition that I insist upon, viz: 

" That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking 
u p arms against the Government of the United States until pro- 
perly exchanged. 

" I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any officers 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 403 

you mny name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to 
you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon 
which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will bo 
received. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant. 
"Lieutenant-General Commanding the Armies of the United 
States." 

The pursuit was resumed on the eighth, and about 
midnight of that date General Grant, who was with 
Meade's column, received the following communication 
from General Lee : 

" April 8. 

General : — I received at a late hour your note of to-day in 
answer to mine of yesterday. 

" I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of 
Northern Virginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. 
To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call 
for the surrender. But as the restoration of peace should be the 
sole object of all, I desire to know whether your proposals 
Would tend to that end. 

" I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the 
Army of Northern Virginia, but so far as your proposition may 
affect the Confederate States forces under my command, and 
lead to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet 
you at ten A. m., to-morrow, on the old stage-road to Richmond, 
between the picket lines of the two armies. Very respectfully, 
your obedient servant, 

"R. E. LEE, 
u General Confederate States Armies. 
" To Lieutenant-General Grant, 

Commanding Armies of the United States.' 1 '' 

In Grant's official report he says, — " Early on the 
morning of the ninth I returned him an answer as fol- 
lows, and immediately started to join the column south 
of the Appomattox : — 



404 BATTLES FOR THE UNION: 

"April 9. 

" General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A : 

*' General : — Your note of yesterday is received. As I have 
no authority to treat on the subject of peace, the meeting pro- 
posed at ten a. m., to-day, could lead to no good. I will state 
however, General, that I am equally anxious for peace with your- 
self ; and the whole North entertain the same feeling. The term* 
upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the 
South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desir- 
able event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of 
millions of property not yet destroyed. 

" Sincerely hoping that all our difficulties may be settled 
without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, very respect- 
fully, your obedient servant, 

" U. S. GRANT, 
" Lieutenant- General If. S. A? 

" On the morning of the ninth, General Ord's com- 
mand and- the Fifth Corps, reached Appomattox Sta- 
tion, just as the enemy was making a desperate effort 
to break through our cavalry. The infantry was at 
once thrown in. Soon after, a white flag was received 
requesting a suspension of hostilities pending negotia- 
tions for a surrender. 

" Before reaching General Sheridan's head-quarters, 
I received the following from General Lee : — 

"April 9, 18G5. 
" General : — I received your note of this morning on the 
picket line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain defi- 
nitely what terms were embraced in your proposition of yester- 
day with reference to the surrender of this army. 

" I now request an interview in accordance with the offer 
contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose. Very 
respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" R. E. LEE, General 
" To Lieutenant-General Grant, 

Commanding United States Armies." 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 



405 



To which communication this answer was returned: 

"April 9. 
M General R. E.Lee, Commanding Confederate States Armies : 

"Your note of this date is but this moment (11.50 A. m.,) re- 
ceived. 

" In consequence of my having passed from the Richmond 
and Lynchburg road to the Farmville and Lynchburg road, I am 
at this writing, about four miles west of Walter's Church, and 
will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you. 

" Notice sent to me on this road where you wish the inter- 
view to take place will meet me. Very respectfully your obe- 
dient servant, 

U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General:' 

" The interview was held at Appomattox Court 
House, the result of which is set forth in the follow- 
ing correspondence : — 

"Appomattox Court House, Va., April 9. 
" General R. E. Lee, Commanding C. S. A. : 

" In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 
8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of 
Northern Virginia, on the following terms, to wit : 

" Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, 
one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other 
to be detained by such officers as you may designate, 

" The officers to give their individual paroles not to take arms 
against the United States until properly exchanged, and each 
company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the 
men of their commands. 

"The arms, artillery, and public property to be packed and 
stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to re- 
ceive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, 
nor their private horses or baggage. 

" This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to 
their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so 
long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where 
they may reside. 

Very respectfully, 

"U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant- General" 



406 BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 

" Head-Quarters, Army op Northern Virginia, 

April 9,1865. 
General : — I received your letter of this date, containing the 
terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as pro- 
posed by you. As they are substantially the same as those ex- 
pressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I 
will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipu- 
lations into effect. 

" R E. LEE, General. 
" Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant." 

When the last letter was received, "Grant hastened 
to the front where Lee was awaiting him," and the 
concluding scene in the drama of Rebellion was then 
rehearsed. From the beginning of the last forward 
movement until the surrender, about ten thousand of 
the enemy's force had been killed and wounded in 
battle, over twenty thousand prisoners had been taken 
or had deserted, and one hundred and seventy pieces 
of artillery were captured. 

It was Palm Sunday, April ninth, 1865, when the 
capitulation was signed, in the plain, frame dwelling 
near Appomattox Court House. 

One is often struck with the curious coincidences — 
the apparent sympathy between nature and important 
human events. The dying hours of Cromwell and 
Napoleon were marked by violent storms. Omens in 
earth and sky were the precursors of the death of 
Julius Caesar and King Duncan. A great comet her- 
alded the opening of the war, and Palm Sunday — the 
day which commemorates the victorious entry of Christ 
into Jerusalem, ushered in the welcome reign of peace. 
The time was auspicious ; the elements were rocked 
to sleep in a kind of Sunday repose. The two armies 
so long in deadly hostility, were now facing each other 



BATTLES FOR THE UNION. 4Q7 

with guns strangely hushed. An expectant silence 
pervaded the air. Every heart was anxiously await- 
ing the result of the conference in the historic farm 
house. 

When at last, the news of the surrender flashed 
along the lines, deafening cheers rose and fell for more 
than half an hour, over the victorious Union army. 
Other than this, there was no undue, triumphal dis- 
play of the victors over the conquered foe. " There 
was a Federal column waving the white flag, and lines 
of troops fringing a distant hill. There was nothing 
visible in front but these; no crash of music disturbed 
the evening air. * * * On the Confederate 
side, the disbanded lines of attack moved across the 
field with the slow step of mourners." 

The shout of joy which was sent up that day from 
Appomattox Court House, echoed through the entire 
North. Cannon boomed forth their iron peans of vic- 
tory ; the glad clash of bells was heard ringing "peace 
and freedom in, " and bonfires flamed high their at- 
testation of the unbounded delight everywhere exhib- 
ited. The day of jubilee seemed to have come and 
rejoicing was the order of the hour. The storm of 
war which had rocked the country for four long years, 
was now rolling away, and the sunlight of peace fell 
athwart the National horizon. The country for which 
Washington fought and Warren fell, was once more 
safe from Treason's hands, and Liberty was again the 
heritage of the people. 



TESTIMONIALS. 



EXTRACTS FROM NOTICES OF THE PRESS 

Hartford Post. 

There is not an old soldier in the country who will not find this one of the 

most companionable and delightful of books. The narrative is nowhere 

wearisome, every page being vivid with exciting incidents and deeds of daring 

and heroism. A brilliant career is certainly open to this newest of the stories 

of the war. 

Albany Journal. 
The soldier and the citizen alike turn to the battles' as concentrating the 
issues and the glories. This story of the great combats and the lesser skir- 
mishes is told in simple, direct, and intelligent terms, with sufficient detail to 
bring out the points of interest, but not so minute as to be wearisome, or blur 

the leading features. 

Boston Traveler. 

In "Battles for the Union," Captain Willard Glazier has added to the reputa- 
tion he has already won as an entertaining writer on subjects connected with 
the rebellion. The present volume, devoting especial space to each battle of 
the trying times of the civil war, will be found especially interesting to those 
who were participants in these battles, or who were Mends of these partici- 
pants. 

Boston Globe. 

Captain Glazier of "Prison Pen" fame, the author of "Three Years in the 
Federal Cavalry," has in his new book, "Battles for the Union," in concise, 
simple, and yet interesting style, told the story of the struggles, suffering, suc- 
cesses, and reverses of the Union armies during the rebellion. The book will 
constitute a most valuable addition to the literature of the times, and will be 
read with interest by all. 

Hartford Courant. 

Captain Glazier has attained immense popularity in the field of war litera- 
ture. His "Capture, Prison Pen, and Escape" has sold to the extent of more 
than 400,000 copies, while his "Three Years in the Federal Cavalry" is still in 
brisk demand, with 100,000 copies already from the press. His new work — 
"Battles for the Union "—is profusely illustrated, and will be assured of a sale 
fully as large as any of his books have attained. 
Albany Argus. 

The writer of this work will be remembered as one of the most promising 
students in the State Normal School in this city, at the outbreak of the rebel- 
lion. He immediately left school, enlisted for the war, and fought bravely for 
his imperiled country during the struggle. He is a graphic narrator, recount- 
ing the stirring scenes with the vigor and freshness of intense sympathy, aided 
by freedom and vivacity of expression. A more desirable history of the 
nation's battles has not been published— indeed, none of the narratives include 
them all in so compact, convenient, readable, and reasonable a form. 



Testimonials. 409 

Chicago Journal. 
Captain Glazier wields a graphic pen. Hia descriptions are vivid. In the 
statement of facts he is painstaking, and conscientious. Forty-four battles are 
described. It constitutes a very readable history of the war. The writer has 
the vivacity which is so essential in the composition of such a book as this. 
One is often thrilled as the panorama of war passes before the mind. 

Boston Transcript. 
This book is like a kaleidoscope, with the prominent battles for the Union 
constituting its shifting scenes. You have only to turn the wheel and Antie- 
tam's field is again red with patriot blood, or the rivulet of Bull Run swells to 
a crimson river. The object of painting a battle scene with pen and ink is to 
make it like a picture, and that object has been accomplished in this work. 
Sheridan's steed, "as black as the steeds of night," again dashes against the 
retreating wave at Cedar Creek and hurls it back to victory, and Kilpatrick, 
Custer, and Bayard renew the brilliant actions which covered their names with 
glory. The style of the book is lucid, and the narrative full of interest to the 
end. If the remarkable sale of the "Prison-Pen" establishes a precedent in 
this young author's experience of book-making, we predict for "Battles for 
the Union" an unparalleled success. 

Syracuse Standard. 
The Soldier- Author wields the pen with surpassing facility, and his descrip- 
tions, abounding in life and interest, are not extended or tedious, but give 
just about what one wants to know of those terribly grand scenes. To those 
who fought for the Union, whether they were immediately connected with 
any of the scenes described in the book or not, there must be a peculiar 
Interest ; for the incidents of those bloody contests are fast fading from the 
memory of most of us who lived in their midst. And were it not for such 
works as this of Willard Glazier to revivificate our memory of them, they 
would soon be gone from us for ever. The work is not a ponderous history, 
heavy with details of minor events, but full of the momentous incidents of a 
struggle, the memory of which our brave soldiers love to dwell upon. 

Scranton Republican. 
An attractive volume entitled "Battles for the Union" has just been issued 
from the pen of the soldier author, Captain Willard Glazier, whose "Three 
Years in the Federal Cavalry" met with such a favorable reception a short 
time ago. Captain Glazier's latest work is decidedly his be6t. It tells the 
story of the Nation's struggle in a graphic, thrilling style that makes the heart 
throb and the blood tingle, as though the scenes which he depicts were passing 
before the eye of the reader. The author aims more at a vigorous than a 
polished style, and infuses into every battle-scene which he depicts his own 
soldier spirit. The work treats essentially, as its name indicates, of the battles 
for the Union, the author being evidently at his best in describing a bristling 
cavalry charge, or telling of the fiery, furious rain of bomb-shells. Notwith- 
standing its vigorous warlike character, there is a thread of romance running 
throughout the work that elevates it above the coarse level of scenes of car- 
nage, as depicted by some writers, and wins the attention of the reader from 
the opening to the closing chapter. 



410 Testimonials. 

Dunkirk Advertiser. 
Captain Glazier's works are growing more and more popular every day. 
Their delineations of military life, constantly varying scenes, and deeply in- 
teresting stories combine to place their writer in the front rank of American 
authors. 

St. Catharines {Ontario) News. 
Several works have already been published having reference to the history 
of the war, but they are unlike the present publication in many respects, and 
the citizen as well as soldier have decided in favor of "Battles for the Union." 

Detroit Tribune. 
The book will be found not only entertaining in the highest degree, but very 
instructive, especially in this day of discussion and criticism of some of the 
Nation's great actors in her terrible but glorious drama of carnage. No work 
on the rebellion has yet been written that affords so much valuable information 
in so few pages, and certainly none of deeper interest. 

Lansing Republican. 
Willard Glazier was himself a soldier, and held the rank of captain in the 
great army of the Union, was captured by the enemy at New Baltimore, Va., 
iu the autumn of 1863, and evidently knows whereof he writes. His style is 
clear and forcible, his descriptions vivid and picturesque, and altogether the 
book is one which will interest all classes of readers. 

Lockport Journal. 
We referred a day or two since to "Battles for the Union," but not to that 
extent which its merits demanded. An intimate acquaintance with its pages 
develops a merit and fund of genuine information relative to the more stirring 
scenes of the late war not discovered by a casual look. As its name indicates, 
the book has to do with the battles of the war. The task evidently was un- 
dertaken conscientiously; it is certainly carried through faithfully and enter- 
tainingly. From Sumter to the surrender, its pases are bright, sparkling, and 
full of the deepest interest. Much is told about the war that cannot be found 
elsewhere. The writer has the tact to deal with the little details of the con- 
flict, which in the aggregate made up the glorious results. The author, Willard 
Glazier, was a good soldier; he moreover wields a graceful pen. 

South Bend Tribune. 
Dear as are the details of camp life and marching to the veteran, he is often 
surprised to mark how their little incidents pale when compared with the in- 
terest which invests the battles in which he fought, perhaps bled, for the sacred 
cause of freedom. However interesting soldier life may have been at the time, 
after the lapse of years it appears b.ut a dull routine, a dark background, against 
which the encounters stand out in bold colors, presenting a grand record of 
the soldier's services and sacrifices. And not the soldier alone feels this ; his 
friends and descendants share this interest in the battles of the great war. It 
therefore becomes necessary that a well written account of the principal strug- 
gles be in every household. We have never seen a book that so completely 
supplies this universal need as Captain Glazier's "Battles for the Union." 



Testimonials. 411 

Detroit Free Press. 
This is pre-eminently a popular history of the war, or, in other words, a his- 
tory which presents the more important phases of the rebellion to the'reader 
in a way that saves him the trouble of winnowing the wheat from the chaff 
It consists virtually of a series of pictures,-each picture representing one 
well-defined battle. In forty-four chapters we have an account of nearly every 
battle of the war, written in a graphic style and liberally sprinkled with ex- 
citing anecdote, and illustrated by numerous engravings. 

Buffalo Expr.ess. 
The graphic story which Captain Glazier told of his own personal experience 
in "Capture, Prison-Pen, and Escape" undoubtedly secured for him a large 
circle of readers, who will cheerfully take "on trust" whatever he may write 
and accept his " Battles for the Union " as a valuable addition to the history of 
the late rebellion. It is written in an attractive style, and contains an inter- 
esting and vivid description of some of the stubbornly contested battles of 
the war, besides a great many entertaining incidents and reminiscences of the 
camp, the march, and the skirmish line. The descriptions of Winchester, 
Chickamauga, and Cedar Creek will be found peculiarly thrilling. 

Cleveland Plaindealer. 
Willard Glazier was among the first who, at the commencement of the war 
for the Union, enlisted from Troy. He bore himself with true gallantry, and 
was captured in the engagement at New Baltimore, in the autumn of 1863. He 
remained in Libby for several months. After his escape he was promoted to a 
captaincy, and served till the war ended. Of late years he has published 
several works of army experiences, which are written with vividness and with 
a dramatic power worthy of the best writers. He has just completed a new 
work, which will probably have a larger sale than any of its predecessors. It 
is entitled " Battles for the Union," and gives in vigorous language and graphic 
an account of every engagement from Fort Sumter to and including the sur- 
render of the last rebel army. The personal part which the author bore in 
many of the battles, and his facilities for observation and retentive powers, 
enabled him to make the work reliable and interesting. 

Chicago Inter- Ocean. 
The voice of war is still ; no more across our streets hang flaunting banners ; 
the march of armed troops that spoke of death and woke the slumbers of the 
night is heard no more, save in the holiday pomp of untried youth or the yearly 
muster of a veteran soldiery. Now smile the fields where armies bled and 
evening drums were wont to beat their last tattoo to dying ears. The fight is 
done, and away in the far horizon the glorious days are waxing dim. Even 
now it is the bearded men who speak of Gettysburg, and children clasp the 
knees that marched to Chancellorsville. Year after year our soldiers meet to 
talk of glory, and year by year their ranks grow thinner, older, grayer; and 
by and by, when the hand of Time has imperceptibly bronght the inevitable 
shadow of forgetfulness, a few old men will answer to their names, and the 
deeds of the heroes who fought for the Union will sleep with those of their 
brothers who fell at Bunker Hill. In the busy world men have little time to 



412 Testimonials. 

fight their battles o'er again. Life is earnest ; living, an ever present and stern 
reality. Histories of the war and the various battles are generally either too 
Ion" or beyond the reach of the average reader. We therefore accept the 
admirably condensed little work of the gallant soldier whose portrait adorns 
this volume,— a handsome portrait it is, too, — with pride and pleasure. It is 
such a history as every soldier and every man who has a pride in his country 
should wish to possess. Captain Glazier was no carpet knight. He shared 
the glories of the Harris Light Cavalry in camp and field, earning his promo- 
tion from the non-commissioned ranks to the command for which he was so 
admirably fitted. There is the scent of powder in what he writes, the vivid 
reality of sight and understanding. We are particularly charmed with his 
style, which is plain, blunt, direct, and free from strain or affectation. He 
describes the fights as they were fought ; individual deeds of bravery as they 
were performed ; the march and its trials ; the defeat and its causes ; the vic- 
tory and its effects. With the ardor of a young patriot, and the generous 
admiration of a good soldier, he feels as great a pride in the successes of a 
rival corps as in his own. Nor is this an unworthy feature of his work, because 
the army was full of little, and sometimes not particularly friendly, rivalries — 
corps of corps, brigade of brigade, regiment of regiment, man of man. Cavalry 
men have a traditional contempt for infantry men ; and although our cavalry, 
through the very nature of the battle grounds, were scarcely permitted the 
honor of that constant meeting with the enemy which fell to the lot of the 
infantry, they were not at all times willing to admit that any difference existed 
as regards the record of killed and wounded, or the greater frequency of ex- 
posure to danger. Willard Glazier's letters, in which every battle may be 
regarded as a separate picture, are quite as good as the boasted descriptions 
by the London Times and Daily News correspondents of the Prussian war. 
They read like a grand panoramic picture of gallant deeds and warlike pag- 
eantries. If the author occasionally covers up a clear defeat, excusing it with 
graceful art ; if he feels disposed to overestimate a slight advantage, and to 
claim a victory where the battle was evidently drawn, he errs upon the side of 
love for the boys in blue and pride in the flag under which he fought. The 
work is divided into forty-four chapters, each containing a different battle, 
commencing with Fort Sumter and ending with the surrender. We confi- 
dently recommend these graphic and life-like pictures to the notice of our 
readers. They are thrilling as the sound of the trumpet, and soul-inspiring as 
the songs of Ossian. 

CJiicago Times. 
The great charm which this book possesses, in all probability, arises out of 
the author's keen appreciation and understanding of human nature. He 
realizes that after the lapse of the years which have intervened between the war 
of the rebellion and the present time, the true soldier considers quiet camp 
life, and the monotonous march of but little importance in comparison to his 
services upon the battle field, and consequently, eagerly turns to any recount 

, of struggles and victories on the field of carnage in which he participated. 
Humorous, spicy, and even pathetic incidents of the camp and march are 
always interesting, calling forth laughter and tears by turns, whiling away 
many an hour, recalling the old times and old comrades, and lingering on in the 



Testimonials. 413 

memories of old soldiers to the end of their live?. But what are they in com- 
parison to the incidents of the battle-field ? Camp life fades from the recollec- 
tion of the warrior at the remembrance of the hour when he stood among sheets 
of flame, shattered forests, crashing- shells, bristling bayonets, and thundering 
artillery, dead to fear, and fighting like a demon to stem the tide of battle. 
Our soldier-author knows this, and although his work comprises many very 
entertaining incidents and reminiscences of the camp, the march, and the skir- 
mish line, and embraces a glowing record of the privations, heroic deeds, 
and glorious triumphs of the soldiers of the Republic, still it is in reality a 
description of many of the most stubbornly contested battles in the war of 
the great rebellion. Willard Glazier's power as a descriptive writer is well 
known from his previous works, which met with a universal welcome, and 
yet that he had much literary strength in reserve is apparent in his last publi- 
cation, " Battles for the Union." In it his delineations of scenes of strife 
bespeak an enthusiasm and an ability for portrayal almost incomprehensible. 
Indeed, so vivid, so thrilling, so heartfelt are his descriptions that the reader 
is brought into the conflict, and cheers with the triumphant or bows with the 
vanquished. Not only into every battle scene which he depicts does the 
writer infuse his own soldier spirit, but into the hearts of all who are so fortu- 
nate as to peruse his work. In every conflict described, one sees the two great 
armies facing each other in their strength, and ready for one fierce convulsive 
contest ; one hears the deafening shouts as the}' sweep down upon each other, 
and the tremendous salute from the terrific artillery which causes the earth to 
shake and the waters to tremble, and the hissing and crashing of the fiery, 
murderous shells ; one can see the thousands of men surging and seething and 
falling beneath the rain of bullets, one can hear the maddening yell of triumph 
of the victorious army when the enemy breaks and flies with demoniac curses 
and cries. The portrayal too of the first night after a battle is also very vigor- 
ous and fine. Very feelingly depicted are the men in their death struggles 
begging for a cup of water ; shivering under the knife of the surgeon as lie 
amputates their mangled limbs ; or praying, perhaps, that they may see their 
native hills once more. An unusually exciting and interesting account is that 
of the naval conflict between the Merrimac and Monitor. In " Battles for the 
Union " every man who participated in the rebellion can live over again the 
days of his soldier life ; can fight side by side with his old comrades ; can 
charge again at the command of his old commander. And here it may be 
stated that the way in which the old familiar names ring out throughout the 
book is truly inspiring. Without doubt the work will be warmly greeted by 
one and all, but more especially will it be welcomed by the thousands of 
isolated farm-houses scattered all over the land, from whence went out a son to 
fight for his country. It will make delightful reading for the long winter even- 
ings so soon to be here. Moreover, it is a book that will not grow old. It will 
not change like the majority of books, with the fashion. Its subject is one 
that cannot be encroached upon. 

Our Fireside Friend, Chicago. ^ 
The tempest of civil war is now long past. The tumult of the tented field is 
already almost forgotten, and the bitterness of sectional feeling which caused 
the open strife between the two divisions of our country, and which excited 



414 Testimonials. 

passions kept alive long after the clamor of actual war had ceased, is now 
rapidly dying away. The fearful time of hloodshed, of wounds aud death, 
of desolated homes, of heartbroken mothers and wives, is now in the minds 
of men oniy a painful dream, but dimly remembered ; on the pages of books 
and newspapers it is but a chapter of history. Now, the literature called out 
by the war, which, a few years ago, awakened such intense sectional and party 
enthusiasm, is interesting only as history, is criticised as history, and valued 
only as it contributes to the tale of the life of a nation, a life full of blunders, 
of errors may be, but tending ever outward and upward from them. The book 
before us is, we think, a worthy contribution to this history. Its scope as 
given on its title-page is the " Description of many of the most stubbornly 
contested battles in the late war, together with incidents and reminiscences of 
the camp, the march, and the skirmish line, embracing also a record of the 
privations, heroic deeds, and glorious triumphs of the soldiers of the Repub- 
lic." This scope is a wide one, and if it be somewhat imperfectly filled out, 
this is really no more than might have been expected of the attempt to com- 
pass 60 much in a volume of 407 pages. But the purpose of the volume is a 
praiseworthy one, and this is, even in the limited space alloted it, very fairly 
carried out. In the history of any war the great battles stand forth as impor- 
tant and salient points. On their issue the story of the war and the history of 
all the nations involved will turn. The fault of most war histories is that they 
are two voluminous, and dwell too much upon incidental details of camp and 
march, or upon matters of strategy that really lie outside of the taje of actual 
strife. The author of this book has therefore taken forty-four of what have 
eeemed to him the most important of the conflicts in the late war, and by 
giving full and accurate details of their strategic plan, and the success of its 
working, has endeavored, and with good success we think, to make a book 
which shall have a peculiar value as a book of reference with regard to these 
battles. This task has been accomplished, too, with most commendable skill 
in the working, The style in which it is written is excellent, being clear and 
graphic. The author, himself a soldier, writes of the exciting contests and the 
perils of the brave men who took part in them, with the ardor of a genuine 
participant. The scenes of the bloody field are each so vividly described, that 
we seem in reading to see the whole contest of the four years of strife as in a 
panorama, and there is not a chapter which is not intensely interesting from 
its opening to its close. The matter we also judge to bo thoroughly accurate 
and reliable, being fully in harrnony with the best authorities that have written 
about the war. There is much matter that has the air of newness to us, in the 
line of incident. This we are disposed to accept as also accurate upon the 
worthy reputation of the author, and feel inclined, because of the pleasure its 
perusal has given us, to recommend the book very warmly to others. 

Chicago Tribune. 
The author of this volume wore the blue uniform during the late war of the 
rebellion, and had an experience both on the battle-field and as a prisoner in 
the hands of the enemy. Since the restoration of peace, he has occupied him- 
self with the relation, in a series of volumes, of the history of the war in its 
various phases. This latest of his books contains a description of some forty- 
four of the sternest battles fought for the integrity of the Union. 



Testimonials. 415 

New York Tribune. 
Willard Glazier is an easy and graceful writer, and holds the attention of the 
reader throughout the entire work, depicting scenes on the battle-field with 
such earnestness and force as to lead one in imagination into the midst of the 
fiercest conflicts, where such deeds of patriotism and bravery were enacted as 
to thrill the very soul. 

Wilkes Barre Record of the Times. 
Captain Glazier's preceding works have gained him a wide fame, and in the 
present volume he has certainly lost none of the vigor, strength, and power 
which characterizes his former writings. His style is easy and natural, and 
yet thrilling and graphic in the extreme. As he writes he witnesses again the 
scenes through which he passed during the rebellion, and his facile pen at once, 
and with peculiar fidelity, transfers the mental picture to the page before him. 
It is a wonderful power, and one which few men possess, to be able to carry 
with them through life the scenes of former years, and reproduce them at will 
for the pleasure of their readers. Captain Glazier demonstrates this fine gift 
with admirable force, and the fascinating pages before us are a moving, breath- 
ing panorama of the battles for the Union. 

Philadelphia Times. 
It is meet that every loyal citizen should preserve green in his memory the 
battles by which our place among the nations was maintained, and we know 
of no work more admirably adapted for this, or more deeply interesting in its 
contents, than "Battles for the Union." It contains lively andgraphic sketches 
of all the great battles of the late civil conflict, and in this respect fills a place 
in American history occupied by Professor Creasy's "Fifteen Battles of the 
World," in general history. In addition to this is other most interesting mat- 
ter, incidents and reminiscences of the camp, march, and skirmish line, and a 
very full record of the privations, heroic deeds, and glorious triumphs of the 
soldiers of the Republic. It is fully illustrated, handsomely bound, and is, all 
in all, a volume that would be read with the deepest interest in every house- 
hold throughout the Union. 

Pittsburg Gazelle. 
Often as the story of the battles in defense of the Union may be told it will 
never grow stale and tiresome so long as those who took part in the struggle, 
or the relatives of those who fought and died in it, still survive. Even when 
these have passed away the tale will not grow old, for the next generation will 
be interested in the details of a contest that has no parallel in modern times. 
Such books as Captain Glazier's "Battles for the Union," therefore, will be 
eagerly sought after, for there can be read the story of the great contest in its 
heroic features, apart from the less attractive, though perhaps not less impor- 
tant, account of the political and cabinet movements that influenced to a great 
extent the movements in the field. " Battles for the Union " gives in its forty- 
four chapters graphic descriptions of as many separate actions, beginning with 
the bombardment of Fort Sumter and ending with the surrender at Appo- 
mattox Court-House, and the entry into Richmond. The story of each battle 
is so clearly and succinctly told as to attract the attention of the reader and 
impress the incidents on his memory. 



416 Testimonials. 

Baltimore American. 

This ia a soldier's account of battles in which the author participated, and 
will be found of special interest to all survivors of those memorable conflicts. 
Captain Glazier's descriptive power is very graphic, and his works are growing 
more and more popular every day. Their delineation of military life, con- 
stantly varying scenes, and deeply interesting incidents, have given the Soldier- 
Author a front rank among those who have undertaken to describe the great 
conflict. 

Beading Eagle. 

Captain Glazier has given his attention, in forty-four chapters, to that num- 
ber of the most important and exciting conflicts of the war, including many 
that are memorable, and will always remain so, for their magnitude,— Antie- 
tam, Chickamauga, Malvern Hill, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, etc., and others that 
are notable for some of the accompanying circumstances, such as Olustee, 
where the colored boys poured out their blood ; Bull Run, whose disasters gave 
an awakening shock to the nation ; Big Bethel, Ball's Bluff, Wilson's Creek, 
and Chantilly, on whose sad fields successively fell the brilliant Winthrop, the 
heroic Baker, the intrepid Lyon, and the chivalrous Kearney. The encounter 
between the Merrimac and Monitor forms an exciting chapter, as the recital 
ol that historic event must always do, and in general, the descriptions through- 
out the volume are spirited and interesting. 

Troy Times. 
A history of early struggle when it is crowned with success, is always one of 
the most interesting chapters in human experience. The life of Willard Glaz- 
ier, the soldier-author, illustrates this sentiment. It is a record of difficulties 
surmounted, of obstacles overcome, of early struggle and present success. 
He is now extensively known to the country as a writer of war-books, and 
" Battles for the Union" is one of the series. He began life as a boy-trapper 
along the banks of the wild Oswegatchie river in St. Lawrence County. In 
this way he obtained his first money, and was enabled to pay his tuition at a 
select school. An education so hardly earned was put to good use, and he 
was afterwards a popular school-master at Schodack Center and Scott's Corn- 
ers, in Rensselaer county. He attended the State Normal School in Albany, 
and one day ran away from school to look at the body of the dead Ellsworth, 
lying in state at the capitol. His patriotism was not of the boisterous kind, 
but it flowed still and deep and was none the less true. He enlisted from 
Troy, under Colonel Clarence Buell in the " Harris Light Cavalry," and served 
three years when he was taken prisoner. Then follows a sickening history 
of southern prison life, interspersed with such brutalities as befitted a Turner 
within the walls of Libby. The story of his escape is thrilling in the extreme, 
and partakes largely of the dramatic. He reached the Union lines at last more 
dead than alive, after twenty-eight nights of weary travel through the cypress 
swamps of South Carolina and Georgia. 

Albany Evening Journal. 
As Captain Glazier began his literary career in Albany, a glance at some 
of the stirring incidents of his varied life cannot be otherwise than of gen- 
eral interest. He 6eems to have been forced by stress of circumstances 



Testimonials. 417 

from boyhood np, to push against the tide. When about fourteen years old, in 
order to obtain means to pay his way at school, he became a trapper along the 
wilds of the Oswegatc'aie in St. Lawrence County— the net proceeds of his 
labor bringing him enough to accomplish his purpose. Later, he managed to 
secure sufficient means by teaching to carry him through a term of the Normal 
School here in Albany. In partnership with another boy— both very poor 
—he emulated the example of Ben. Franklin by boarding himself in the 
most frugal manner. He was a member of the Normal School at the breaking 
out of the rebellion, and, as with thousands of others, the war changed the whole 
course of his life. He belonged to the company of Ellsworth Avengers 
organized here, and in August, 1861, left school and enlisted with Col. Clarence 
Buell at Troy, as a member of the Harris Light Cavalry. His term of service 
lasted until 1863, when he was taken prisoner, and for over a year suffered the 
untold horrors of Southern Prison life. His escape was well-nigh miraculous. 
For twenty-eight days he traveled with bleeding feet through the woods and 
broken country by night, sleeping in some negro hut or place of concealment 
during the day. He succeeded at last in reaching eur lines, and it was such a 
day as he never forgot. He afterwards embodied his experiences in the 
"Prison-Pen," the first edition of which was published by Joel Munsell, of 
this city. Here, also, he received the name of the " Soldier-Author," which 
has clung to him through all his literary experience. The " Prison-Pen " had 
the almost unprecedented sale of 400,000 copies, and "Three Years in the 
Federal Cavalry" was its immediate successor. We understand he has 
accumulated a good sized fortune in the sale of his various works, and 
assuredly such untiring industry and perseverance deserves to be crowned 
with the most bountiful success. 



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